Resilience
by confoozled1
Summary: Two years after the success of Zero Requiem, the world that was Lelouch vi Britannia's dream is crumbling before Zero's very eyes. But in order to honor Lelouch's dream, Zero must come to terms with himself and the true meaning of Zero R. Chapter 6 up.
1. Suzaku

The cold, hard barrel of an automatic pistol pressed against the side of his head, being separated only by a thin curtain of brown, wavy hair. All it took was one squeeze, one gentle squeeze and everything would fall into place, resulting in the end of the tragedy known as his life. The first act was already completed, as the mask lay silent and forgotten, upside down in the snow.

Around him, the wind howled wildly and whipped about impatiently. It danced about almost like a crowd before a public execution. The gun, however, was more patient, as it remained in place. But soon, it too would begin to dance about as the teenager's hands began to shake and tremble madly. All but the finger, which seemed to be frozen by the winter night's frost.

The subtle seizure was followed by a cascade of tears, each tear glistening in the moonlight, almost freezing instantaneously. His lower lip curled upwards as he bit the lip with his teeth, struggling to reconstruct the dam of solemnity and refrain any more tears from pouring forth.

"Lelouch…," he sobbed. "Why?! Why could you not see this?" Almost instantly, the sobs became choking grunts of anger. "You were supposed to be a genius! You were supposed to bring everlasting peace!"

The grave in front of him gave no answer, angering him further. It was almost as if he had expected his friend to rise from the grave and in his usual air of arrogance, command him to squeeze the trigger. If only it were that simple.

_Yes… if only it were that simple_, Suzaku Kururugi thought to himself. _Then everything would end easily..._ His bloodshot, teary eyes revealed to the empty void a tale of restless nights, wracking guilt and isolation from all those he loved and cared for. The reasons to squeeze the trigger were plentiful; his father's death, his notions of change, the betrayal of his country, the death of many a friend and comrade, his relinquishment of happiness, the death of Euphie, the death of Lelouch and now… the death of the only thing left; Lelouch's dream.

The legacy of Zero that Lelouch left behind was nothing but an aspiration. A dream. A dream which shattered in less than a year after Lelouch vi Britannia's death, and awoke the nightmare of war once more. People spoke of Zero, waiting for his arrival but it was impossible for Suzaku to carry on the role of Zero any longer. The burden of power and responsibility weighed infinitely heavier with guilt hitching a ride as well.

He had failed his friend. There was no reason for him to stay alive. He had spent the last few nights pondering incessantly about how he would apologize to Lelouch in the afterlife. But it was not his Geass command which inhibited him; he found that with time and usage, he was able to control it by will easily. He was no Lelouch, however. He was not the type of person who could not shoot because he was afraid of being shot at in return. Or rather, that was who he had become recently.

_Am I… afraid of death?_ Suzaku thought to himself. He laughed bitterly, dropping his arm to his side. He continued laughing even as he felt the strength in his knees abandon him, forcing him to collapse on the frozen ground and drop the gun. Only two years ago, he would have gladly squeezed the trigger without a second moment's hestitation.

"Tell me Lelouch…" Suzaku murmured, looking around for the mask. He picked it up and stared at it blankly, not knowing what to make of it. "What would you have me do? What would you do?"

The first part was rhetorical; of course he knew what Lelouch would do. For all their competitions in the past, Lelouch would probably win the category of the more obstinate one. Suzaku certainly had some emotional barricades to prevent himself from losing his senses, but he was nowhere near the level of Lelouch. Lelouch wasn't even human in that regard.

Whatever premonition that Suzaku wanted to visualize arrived in the form of a shrill ring from the inside of his costume. It rang for a few moments as Suzaku remained frozen with his eyes fixated upon the grave.

He had no intention of answering the phone, but unconsciously, his free hand reached into his pocket and extracted a sleek black phone; a present from Nunnally. Nunnally… he had almost forgotten about her over the past few days. Her business allowed him a slight reprieve, so she had allowed him to take a vacation. Perhaps her naiveté was what led to his current state; he had surrendered his right to any happiness on that fateful day.

"…Yes?" Suzaku's voice was hollow and devoid of emotion.

"Zero, you're needed at the UFN tomorrow." It was Nunnally. She sounded busy; even then Suzaku felt slightly abandoned. Never once did Nunnally ever refer to him as Suzaku like in the old days after that incident. She had good reason, as she was ten to fifteen feet below him and Lelouch when it occurred. She was abnormally perceptive; much like her brother. She pierced the mask and deduced his identity immediately. She was kind at first, as evidenced when he had brought her back to Ashford Academy, and they had met Gino, Nina, Milly, Rivalz and Kallen. But that was as much interaction he had gotten from her as Suzaku Kururugi. Suzaku might as well have been dead to her.

"Understood, ma'am," Suzaku flipped the phone shut. He breathed heavily. For the moment, he was glad to be shackled once again. There would be no more nonsense, no more time to brood about the past. He donned the icy cold mask once again. The mask would be his protection from the world; in turn he would do everything to protect the world wearing that mask. Suzaku Kururugi would have to return to the grave, alongside with the late 99th emperor of Britannia. Zero rose up, his cloak swishing casually. After all, he was Zero. Nothing more, nothing less, no one else.


	2. Needles

* * *

**Zero's Office**

The feel of the clear tube didn't feel right. Perhaps it would feel more natural if he held it as one would a pencil instead of a fork.

The contents of the tube sloshed around messily, before calming down slightly as Zero twirled the hypodermic needle in between his slender, gloved fingers, catching it abruptly. He didn't have to catch it. He could have just let it slip and tumble; tumble into nothingness before it smashed into an explosion of liquid and slivers of delicate shards. There were always more where it came from.

If there were ever a time when the mask aligned with the atmosphere of the room, it was now. It was fine to emanate such a feeling of depression; there was no one within the vicinity to curb his actions. They seemed to slither all of the walls, over the decorations, the furniture, drowning out the light. Zero forgot how long he had been like this. It seemed like yesterday, yet it seemed like it had been an eternity

The liquid seemed to be aware of this. It called to him, craved him the way lust could only be satiated with the heat of bodily passion. Maybe it was the way the liquid glistened in the light, or perhaps it was because he had succumbed to the temptation many times in the past.

All it took was one simple plunge. One quick jab into his arm and he would be relieved. Relieved of the present. Relieved of the burden. Relieved of every single event, place and person which had anchored him to the very bottom of the murky ocean known as his life. And there would be nothing. Nothing but him.

There would be no mask, no wars, no terrorists; none of the things which had plagued the world. It would only be bliss, and him.

Yes, the only person besides Nunnally Vi Britannia who had ever held a spot in his mind ever since that day. Lelouch.

Zero, or rather, Suzaku was eager to see his dear friend once more. It had become an unfortunate cycle. Whenever he had enough sense in him to cognitively function on the level of a normal human being, the sadness had to be suppressed. Whenever he was intoxicated, the endorphins rose, leaving the "hero" in a state of complete delirium. And he would come back for more. For he saw Lelouch. He saw the innocent days at the Kururugi Shrine. The days when war, oppression and suffering were as troublesome as not being able to stay up late. The days when they were free to smile.

Yes. That smile. How Suzaku longed to see it once more. And the only thing which had brought it back was this miraculous, yet illegal concoction. It didn't matter whether he jeopardized his position or that of his employer's. He only wanted to see that childlike innocence once more.

Yet, he had no idea why he was holding back. A shiver ran up his spine and raced through his arm as it jerked slightly. Zero stared long and hard at his arm, gripping it tightly with his other hand, as though he were afraid that it may escape with his commodity. For all his physical prowess, Zero could not seem to defeat his own arm, which had increased its twitching.

There was a loud knock upon the grand, oak doors. In surprise, Zero's knee jerked upward, slamming into one of the drawers, giving off a loud, resounding thud. And the needle took the opportunity to escape from its captor, dropping onto the wooden desk, before rolling off into free space.

* * *

Zero stared at the needle as it hit the floor, quite relieved that the needle landed handle-first, ensuring its survival and looked back up at the door, which opened slightly. A small bundle of brown hair popped through meekly. It was Sayoko.

"Yes?" Zero's words were innocent enough but the tension permeating the atmosphere made it difficult for the super-maid to speak up, even if she were an intimidating force herself.

"Forgive me for my intrusion, Lord Zero, but Lord Warlton wishes to speak with you."

Sayoko looked at Zero, wondering how he would react. That was the thing about people in masks. They were like diaries with locks on them. Only a select few would ever be able to read the pages inside.

Zero never got a chance to reply. The other door opened with much more force, startling the two people. There was a loud crash as the door slammed forcefully against the wall, swinging back toward its original position before slowing down. It wouldn't have been surprising if there were a mark left upon either the door or the wall.

* * *

Before Zero stood a wiry man. He was middle-aged, probably in his late thirties, early forties from the looks of it. His hair was thinning, giving him an even more sterner look, one which complemented the room's atmosphere readily. He glared at Zero, who seemed to be staring back with equal intensity.

"Lord Zero, a pleasure to finally meet you," he announced. Zero detected a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice. Incredibly unneeded but he decided to keep it to yourself.

"As you may know, I am Franklin Warlton," he continued, "the Representative of Britannia to the United States of Japan and one of the members of the United Federation of Nations."

Zero nodded, leaning forward with his hands folded in feigned interest. His attention lay in his foot, which was moving around almost inconspicuously, fishing for the hypodermic needle. It would be troublesome if either the representative or the maid saw it.

"And what would an important figure such as yourself be doing here at this time of day?" Zero pointed an arm in front of him at one of the chairs, gesturing for the man to take a seat. Warlton walked forward, accepting his request, as Sayoko clasped the handles on both doors and pulled them shut, leaving the two men alone.

"I'm only here because you could not be reached," Warlton replied crossly, folding his arms. "Be it the hero of the world or a simple commoner, what type of person takes leave during a workday?"

It was apparent that Warlton was taking a jab at Zero. But there was little reason to care. Zero felt the barrel of the needle; he nudged it gently directly underneath the desk, while looking directly at the Representative.

"Forgive me, Mr. Warlton, but I was preoccupied with some… personal issues," Zero responded carefully. "Is it wrong for someone for taking leave for issues they need handled?"

"I have no time to discuss such trivialities," Warlton countered. "I came here to discuss some matters. You're aware of the situation concerning you and the Britannian nobility?"

Zero gave no indication of having such knowledge, prompting Warlton to mutter something about useless celebrities and reach into his coat. He pulled out a folded up newspaper and opened it up, flattening it a bit upon his leg before holding it up for the masked man to see.

The words glared at Zero harder than the person holding them up. Zero stared incredulously at them, not sure whether to believe what he was seeing. Perhaps it was a cruel joke. The Representative was never known as a fond supporter of Zero, or that was how the rumors circulated.

"Whether you believe me or not, I could not really care," Warlton said snidely, placing the newspaper in front of Zero. "And don't get me wrong; I didn't come because I felt you had to know. I was sent at the request of Her Majesty. She's working on that very issue as we speak."

Zero looked up at the man. His face, hardened with frowns and the creases upon his forehead from frowning for too long did not give off any indication that he was joking in the least.

"What's the meaning of this?"

Warlton snorted. "Isn't it obvious? The Britannian nobility are actually using court system instead of brute force to achieve their wants."

Zero, or rather, Suzaku, gritted his teeth. His insides seemed to seethe and fester venomously, concocting various toxins even more potent than the Refrain lying all forgotten upon the floor. Apparently, it was only a matter of standard procedures to them. It was all he could manage, to keep a cool and level demeanor. He wasn't sure of how much longer he could pretend to be calm, especially with the smugness coming from the face of the man before him. Did they think he wasn't tormented about taking the life of his best friend? Did they think he slept easy at night? Did they think he relished in playing the role of a hero? No, it wasn't possible. They didn't know how he felt. They weren't a part of Zero Requiem. They didn't know that Lelouch had accepted his fate willingly. They would never know.

'I suppose you're wondering which one of the nobility could have done this to you," Warlton mused, crossing one leg over the other. He pulled out an envelope from the same area as the newspaper and handed it to Zero, who took it after a moment's hesitation.

'You'll find the signatures of all the Britannian nobility who signed," Warlton said, as Zero ignored the letter opener lying with reach, gutting the envelope instead. "First Prince Odysseus, First Princess Guinevere and Lord Weinberg are among the leading proponents in having you locked away for your murder of His Majesty Lelouch vi Britannia."

Almost immediately, Zero knew of the reason. It was not like the Britannian Imperial family to care much about one another, save for a select few, like Lelouch, Nunnally and Euphemia, but he was there on that day. The day when Lelouch took the throne. For himself. No… himself in name only. For Nunnally. For a better world.

_

* * *

_

**Imperial Palace, Britannia A.T.B 2018**

_It was a large crowd. There were easily over a hundred people, gathered in such a large hall. They were all dressed oddly, but that was to be expected of royalty, Suzaku mused to himself as he looked down from the ceiling. How he had come to an agreement with Lelouch a month before, he had no idea. But that didn't matter. The procedure didn't matter. It was the result that accounted for everything. A result which he and Lelouch would bestow upon the world._

"_Didn't they say the Emperor went missing?" a pink haired girl asked curiously. Suzaku supposed the girl was the Fifth Princess of Britannia, Carline le Britannia. She looked to be the same age as Nunnally, although there was something about her which disturbed Suzaku._

"_Bismarck was the one who reported it himself, yet he himself is missing…" a well-endowed, grey haired woman next to Carline said. That would probably have to be the First Princess Guinevere Britannia._

"_More importantly, where's Schneizel and the rest?" a tall, bearded man next to the First Princess asked. He was most likely First Prince Odysseus. The one next who was supposedly next in line for the throne._

_**Well, he was**__, Suzaku thought to himself. He frowned slightly; Lelouch was really taking his time. He didn't know how much longer he could stay up there; he was getting cramps from having to maintain his balance for such a period of time. _

"_Who knows? We haven't heard anything from Cambodia," Guinevere replied. There was an apparent lack of interest on her part; she was probably only saying it to keep the conversation alive while waiting for their father. She would definitely be in for a rude surprise._

"_His Majesty the Emperor has arrived!" a shout echoed throughout the chamber, causing whatever hushed conversations there were to come to an abrupt stop as all the people stood quietly. But the noise level only increased, as trumpets blared proudly to announce Charles Vi Britannia's presence._

_Except it was not the Ninety-Eighth Emperor of Britannia who walked regally on the stage before them. There were numerous gasps of surprise and bewilderment, almost in complete unison at the person before them. _

_Suzaku smiled. He was enjoying this moment. It was just like Lelouch to enter in such a fashion. He was adorned in the finest material Ashford Academy's uniforms could ever hope to achieve. Fitting for royalty. It seemed to mock the extravagant fabric and the blaring colors of the nobility without any remorse._

"_Where's His Majesty?" Guinevere voiced, representing the collective thoughts of all the members in the room. They watched in utter shock as Lelouch strode in pride, still unable to piece the puzzle together._

"_W-why?" Carline uttered, as Lelouch placed his hands upon the throne, sitting down comfortably. A smile crossed his face as Lelouch ignored the questions and crossed his leg over the other, to attain an even more comfortable position in which he could freely look down upon his brethren._

"_I am the Ninety-Ninth Emperor of Britannia, Lelouch vi Britannia," he announced, never letting go of the smile. It seemed he was enjoying this far more than Suzaku._

"_What… really?" _

"_He's still alive?"_

"_That's right, sister," Lelouch smiled even more broadly and looked at Guinevere. "I've returned from the depths of Hell itself."_

"_Thank goodness, Lelouch," Odysseus sighed in a soothing manner, walking forward from his position. Suzaku scowled; the First Prince's words were visibly baited with honey. Yet, he and Lelouch were not the same as flies who would be attracted or fooled by the honey. They had a mission to complete._

'_When we found Nunnally, I thought maybe… just maybe…" Odysseus smiled at his brother, before looking down to choose his next few words, "but don't you think you're taking this joke a bit too far…? That's where your father-"_

"_I killed the Ninety-Eighth Emperor of Britannia, Charles zi Britannia," Lelouch interjected crossly, his head angled to the side. Each word was pronounced with spite. The charming smile had now been replaced completely with a disdainful countenance._

"_Huh?" Odysseus' face had gone blank, as more gasps could be heard throughout the audience, some later than others, as the audience struggled to comprehend the words which flew out of the young Emperor's mouth._

'_Thus, I will become the next Emperor," Lelouch declared, above the murmurs._

"_What are you talking about? That's ridiculous!"_

_Guinevere turned to the guards, her emerald eyes blazing. "Take care of that fool! He's the scum who murdered His Majesty the Emperor!"_

_Lelouch merely smiled confidently as four uniformed guards came running toward the throne, brandishing spears. It was about time._

_And he leapt down. He spun in midair, to gain more velocity. To gain power. The power that was needed to protect His Majesty._

_And the power was delivered. Suzaku whirled about one final time before lashing out with his leg, making contact with the flat surfaces of the spearheads. The other leg also lashed out, slamming into the face of the closest guard, who flew backwards and hit his companions with enough force to sending them flying backwards._

_Their bodies landed with a thud at the base of the steps as Suzaku landed, kneeling on one knee, head facing the floor with one arm in front for support. The pitiful remnants of the shattered spearheads clattered upon the floor around him as Lelouch looked on in amusement and approval. _

"_Let me introduce my Knight, Suzaku Kururugi," Lelouch announced proudly, as Suzaku stood up slowly and moved to the side. A sinister smile appeared on his face as the audience stared in disbelief and horror._

'_Since he's a Rounds who surpasses all other Knights of the Rounds, I hereby endow him with the title, Knight of Zero," Lelouch's index and middle finger pointed idly at Suzaku._

"_You can't do this, Lelouch… Lord Kururugi," Odysseus spoke up once more, this time walking directly in front of Lelouch. Bewilderment and confusion had begun to sink into his voice as he apparently managed to convince himself that this was not some vivid hallucination. "Playing a prank like this on international television." _

"_Is that so?" Lelouch mused, standing up before his brother. His left hand rose to his eyes and swept away gracefully, revealing lavender sigils which flared hungrily before the large amount of prey gathered before it. "Then let me put it simply for you… acknowledge me!"_

"_Like I said, you have to stop this joke…" Odysseus started, but stopped, as if struck by a FLEIJA warhead. _

'_Yes, Your Majesty!" Odysseus exclaimed, as a dull and dreamy expression took over his exasperated one. Suzaku saw it; there were traces of lavender around his the edges of his lens. There were bound to be present upon the other members of the audience, as they raised their right hands in unison to the left sides of their chest._

"_All hail Lelouch! All hail Lelouch! All hail Lelouch!"_

_And Lelouch stood before it all, smiling evilly. Suzaku turned and looked at his friend. They had taken their first steps back into Hell. There would be no turning back._

* * *

**Zero's Office**

It was Geass. Every action apparently had its reaction. Zero sighed. Even after Lelouch's death, the actions of the Geass still manifested itself in others. But what he couldn't understand was why they prosecuted him so openly. There was no apparent benefit to them even if they won the case.

"Which brings us to the second matter I wanted to discuss," Warlton said, knocking Zero out of his memories and back into the real world, "and it might be in your best interest."

Zero remained silent. The actions of the Imperial Family had still bewildered him.

"In a week's time, there will be a private demonstration of sorts at the Tokyo National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. We imagine that it would be in both our best interests if you were there."

"How would watching some demonstration be in my best interests?" Zero asked slowly. He could already tell that Warlton was not one to lie, but he still didn't trust the man entirely.

"You wouldn't be watching," Warlton responded, picking up the newspaper once more and rolling it up. He placed it back into his pocket, "You'll be in charge of the security there. You're a mercenary of sorts, aren't you? And it'll be in your best interests because I do hold some connections with the court systems. I could… overturn the decision for the Imperial Family's appeal."

Warlton smiled for the first time during the conversation, albeit it being the type of smile one gave when his next turn would be checkmate. Zero hesitated. Why the people in charge of the demonstration wanted him in charge of their security, he had no idea. However, the last thing he needed was more mental and emotional stress. He grew all the more aware of the drug below him, calling to him, teasing him, appealing to his very senses.

"…Alright, I accept," Zero said finally. Warlton nodded in approval.

* * *

**Elsewhere in Imperial Capital**

"So, the savior of Britannia, Lord Zero, has accepted the job offer. Is that right?" The setting sun glowed fiercely through the windows, hitting the face of a middle aged man with almost no trace of aging upon his face, save the odd wrinkle here and there. He turned casually to face his informant, swirling a cup of wine with slight flicks of his wrist. "Killing four birds with one stone. I'm quite sure Prince Odysseus would be delighted to hear of this…"

"Shall I go and inform him, my Lord?" the informant asked hesitantly, making a motion to the door. He stopped when the noble shook his head slightly.

"All in due time…" he said nonchalantly. He took a sip from the wine, "tell me, what do you think of the state of Britannia at the moment?"

"I-I think it's fine," the informant answered cautiously, not sure of where the man was leading the conversation toward. It was better that he played it safe rather than invoke the lord's wrath.

"Such an uneducated response," the man idly responded, shaking his head slowly. His eyes turned sharp instantly, piercing through the informant's body. "Look at the state of our Holy Empire of Britannia! In complete shambles. The nobility reduced to nothing but a mere shell of their former selves… our colonies, once as widespread as the Far East, has crumbled down to this continent alone!"

The informant trembled nervously as he watched the noble pace around angrily. The wine sloshed around fervently, some droplets managing to escape the curved, transparent confines before meeting a grisly end upon the expensive carpet.

'Our people… on the same level as… as those _Numbers_," he spat venomously. "They fraternize so readily with those animals… including my own son! Our military, a fraction of what it used to be. All because of that man! Zero…"

"Zero, my lord?" the informant asked curiously. The lord whirled about and pierced the man with his glare once more.

"Yes, Zero," he retorted derisively, "he seized power when he helped our Empress claim the throne. Even now as we speak, he seduces her with his forked tongue, unraveling whatever work Emperor Charles had accomplished!"

Wine sprayed everywhere as the cup split into hundreds of tiny fragments when the noble threw it. The informant opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again, deciding that it was probably better for his own safety to mention that the previous Emperor, Lelouch vi Britannia had brought about these changes more so that his sister and her bodyguard.

'No matter," the noble gasped slightly, catching his breath, as his golden hair hung limply around his face. "I will see to it that Britannia is restored it its glory. I swear it."

* * *

**A/N: Revised Chapter 2. Replaced the entire chapter; this one ties in better than the first version. Events which occurred in this chapter will be altered to a degree and dispersed throughout the rest of the story.  
**


	3. Conflict

* * *

**See Bottom for Author's Note. Explanation there.**

**

* * *

Camelot Facility**

"You're still working at this hour? That's just like you…"

Lloyd Asplund looked up at the sound of the voice; a welcome break from the work before him. He gave a crooked smile as he adjusted his glasses; he had replaced his old ones with one that had black rims adorning a thinner lens. It made him look somewhat more fashionable.

"I thought you were taking a break. How did you manage to enter the facility?" The eccentric scientist watched curiously as his former assistant set a plastic bag full of unknown material down on the floor as she took a seat at the table near him. She looked at the table; it was littered with calculations, notes and the sort. He continued watching as she paused at each paper before filing them together neatly. Lloyd felt something within him; was it nostalgia?

He shook his head slightly, so as she wouldn't notice. Whatever he was feeling, he was better off not feeling it. He had to resume his work.

"You forgot to deactivate my card," Cecile Croomy teased, putting the neatly organized papers aside and holding out a small identification card. "But you're still working as usual. Isn't Nina here to help you out at least?"

"Nina's taking off tonight. Visiting her school friends. Special occasion today."

Lloyd looked up slightly at the new piles of paper. He reached out toward the nearest pile and flipped through the papers, revealing what he was writing on momentarily. Cecile saw it. There was no mistaking what he was working on. The humanoid, yet monstrous outline of a Knightmare Frame.

That was probably the reason she had gone on hiatus from her work. She had enjoyed working with Lloyd and for a brief time, the Knight of Seven, or rather, the Knight of Zero. Suzaku Kururugi.

It was strange though, how much his death had impacted Lloyd and her. Lloyd was never one to wear his emotions on his sleeve, referring to Suzaku as a "part" often, much to the chagrin of Cecile, but she could tell that he was deeply saddened by the loss of one of his companions. Perhaps that was why he was still engrossed in his work. After all, the pursuit of knowledge was the one thing that kept Lloyd from progressing on as a human.

It was strange for her as well. She had been involved in a war. Even if it were indirect, she was a vassal of the military and she had assisted others in taking lives. But the loss of one life alone meant more to her than several million unnamed lives. She wanted nothing to do with the military anymore after his death. She wanted to lead a normal life.

'Were you commissioned or is this some harmless hobby?" she asked, looking at him directly, with unwavering eyes. Lloyd smiled casually, matching her stare coolly.

"You should already know the answer to that."

There was a moment's silence before Cecile's stare finally wavered; she sighed wistfully, shaking her head, which let loose a few strands of her hair. Lloyd looked down at his work once more and gave a small gasp before scribbling furiously at the paper.

The paper had a small photo attached to it at the top. Cecile leaned forward for a better view. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw the photo's subject. A bundle of red hair and dull, yet serious marine blue eyes looked back at her.

"What exactly is this? And why is _her _photo on this?" she demanded, grabbing Lloyd's writing hand.

"It's exactly what it looks like," Lloyd sighed, attempting to wrest himself free from Cecile's grip. She held fast, however, glaring at him intently.

"She's not a soldier! She's a normal student… A human being…" Cecile's voice rose angrily, before it began to quiver.

Lloyd ceased struggling; his hand went slightly limp in her grasp as he lowered it to the cold, hard surface of the table. He looked at her with solemn, opaque eyes, but Cecile saw right through it. The longing to be human; to be free of the shackles of science and duty. But this was one caged bird that could not spread its wings.

'You really haven't made any progress after all this time, have you…" Cecile muttered, voicing her disappointment. Lloyd attempted to force a smile, but the result was weak and devoid of his usual humor.

"In the end though, it's not my decision," Lloyd remarked off-handedly, finally managing to pry his hand from her iron, vice-like grip. "You should know that well by now. We were always parts to begin with."

* * *

**Kouzuki Residence**

The pale sunlight made its way through the windows, unhindered by the fact that the curtains were pulled wide apart; harkening the advent of a new day. It made its way down, bathing the entire room in its pureness, banishing whatever shadows were playing around at the base of the furniture. It continued, until it seemed to finally arrive at its destination; a slender figure lying upon a couch.

Her position was a defilement to the light; she was positioned in an interesting manner. Her neck was at an angle slightly greater than forty-five degrees due to her head resting upon the armrest. Her face was toward the television, which was rambling on with commercials for some product that someone her age would want to buy. How she managed to sleep through it was a complete mystery.

And her legs; they were draped across the back of the couch, almost the way one would hang a carpet out on the veranda to dry. But people were not carpets. Carpets would not wake up to suffer from back problems.

But for the moment, she was sleeping peacefully, despite the sun's gentle prodding, which gradually intensified with each passing second. She stirred slightly; the sun had already begun to take its effect upon her. Her face contorted in an ugly manner as her arm swung up sluggishly from the table, knocking a half-filled bottle of alcohol onto the floor, before resting over her face. Fortunately for her, the floor had a carpet on it, which cushioned the bottle's freefall and saved it from destruction. Unfortunately for her, the carpet could not save itself from the contents of the bottle, which burst joyfully from the opening and onto the expensive material.

"Ughhh…" she groaned frighteningly, moving her legs off the back of the couch. A comfortable sensation washed over her, mixing with the accumulated heat from the sun's glare.

And then, a spasm of pain. And a dull pounding within her head, which seemed to invite a nauseous feeling.

* * *

Kallen Kouzuki struggled to get on her feet, groaning dully as she felt the wet carpet beneath her. The cleaning for the carpet would no doubt be expensive, and come out of her own finances. The bathroom seemed miles away as the sickening flavor of bile rose in her throat; she gagged and hastened her pace, as difficult as it was given her coordination level.

She staggered into the bathroom, managing to get one thought across her throbbing head: she needed to give up drinking. She kept telling herself that, as she flipped the lid of the toilet seat and looked down at the clear water. Her reflection showed a haggard woman; one who had aged physically far beyond what she was supposed to be. But these were only minor complications- the hangovers and the appearances. She needed to stop drinking for her own sake. She had to give drinking up, sooner or later. But she couldn't. There was something about alcohol which brought solace to her.

How long had it been since she had been caught up in this vicious cycle? It had to be at least one and a half years; one and a half years since they all reunited at Ashford Academy. Whoever was left. She had tried living happily. She was grateful to those who were still there but the memories of those who were lost soon inundated her. Including his memory.

She needed to get away from it. She told herself, that she wouldn't let it overtake her, but it had. This was probably the desperation that her mother had felt back at that little piece of hell. It was probably the reason why her mother, who was at her wit's end, resorted to that drug, becoming nothing more than a pathetic shell of a human being stuck in a time capsule.

At first, the guilt was there. She attempted to justify her actions, reassuring herself that 'at least it wasn't Refrain.' But that was just denial, as the bile finally forced its way up her throat and out of her mouth, coloring the water in an abstract, chunky color. Some of it splashed upon impact, arcing into the air and landing on the edges of the seat and her chin.

* * *

But yesterday was different. Yesterday was bittersweet. Yesterday brought renewed hellos and goodbyes. She drank not to escape, but to celebrate. Her necklace dangled limply, as though all life had been drained from it as another wave of nausea forced Kallen to stay at the toilet.

It had been two years, two long and lonely years. Two years since the Demon Emperor Lelouch Vi Britannia was assassinated in broad daylight. One hundred and four weeks since the legend of the Black Knights, Zero had vanquished him from this world. Seven hundred and thirty days since the world had seemingly returned to peace. Seventeen thousand, five hundred and twenty hours since her life had returned to 'normal'. And she had spent each minute of it all missing him. He wasn't entirely gone; there were photos of him lying about and everyone who knew him as a person still retained their memories of him. But it wasn't fair. They were of him, but they were not him.

It was a slightly different group this time. Rivalz, Nina, Gino Weinberg and Anya Alstreim had met her in front of Lelouch's grave, each bearing some form of remembrance; although it was later found out that Anya had come along at the request of Lord Jeremiah. Kallen didn't mind. It was a token of remembrance all the same.

There were some key absences, however. Milly was working as a war correspondent in the recent declaration of independence of the southern Britannian continent, which had dubbed itself the 'Federation of Britannian Commonwealths." And there was Nunnally, the Empress of Britannia, who was so caught up in her work, especially with the declaration of independence that she could not possibly attend. The rest of the Black Knights. She was not surprised that they had not shown up. Many of them still had a negative view upon Lelouch, without knowing the entire truth. The air always became stagnant fairly rapidly at Tamaki's bistro whenever the name "Lelouch" was uttered.

* * *

And then… there was Zero.

Kallen got up slowly; the nausea had dissipated to some extent. She got to her feet unsteadily, clutching at the sink. The stench was horrendous; it was appalling how she managed to withstand it. The mirror greeted her rather unkindly as she saw bags underneath her marine blue eyes. The eyes also seemed lose the spark they once had; they were unpolished rocks now, staring at her reflection.

She was sure she knew his identity. She was sure that the man behind the mask was the nemesis she had encountered upon the battlefield so often. She had wanted to believe that it was Lelouch at first whenever she saw him after that day, but she had to face reality. The sword had entered his torso and stained his attire a fearsome crimson. Be it Lelouch or him, Zero was Zero. And she pitied him for it. Lelouch was able to lead the double life. However, he would not be able to. She was sure of that.

She was surprised to see no one at the grave when they had arrived. She was sure Zero would be there, at the very least. It was at his hands that Lelouch had fallen. Did he not feel any remorse? If it really were him, he should have been there on that night. But there was nothing. Nothing that gave any indication of a certain so called 'friend' being there. It was an insult to his memory.

And there she stood, caught up in a vortex of nausea, repulsion, loneliness and reminiscence. All of which had to come to a halt in a matter of time. Lelouch would never have wanted her to wallow like this. She had to continue living, even if it meant putting on a fake smile with every passing minute.

* * *

**Tokyo UFN Central Assembly Room**

She was in an uncomfortable situation. She snuck a glance at her friend, who was sitting at the center of it all, listening intently to the speaker, seemingly oblivious of her plight.

But she couldn't count on Kaguya Sumeragi to help her out. Kaguya had her own work to handle. She looked over at a man next to her. His presence was encouraging, and he had the experience in these matters to back her up, but to her, it wasn't the same gentle presence as whenever she was around Lelouch.

"Is something the matter, Your Highness?" the man asked kindly. Nunnally shook her head slightly. She didn't want anyone to worry over her well-being.

"It's alright, Brother Schneizel," she responded, giving him a smile, hoping that he would buy into the false expression. Her smile faltered slightly when she saw that Schneizel smiled back at her, giving her the impression he pitied her.

"Please don't call me that, Your Majesty," he replied, "Even if it is true, you are my queen; I am but your advisor. Furthermore, I understand the stress this entire incident is causing. Please leave the work to me and Representative Warlton."

Nunnally could nothing but nod weakly in agreement, but she felt somewhat relieved on the inside. She had always felt that Schneizel would make a far better ruler than she would ever hope to be. He was kind, compassionate and above all else, had sound judgment and knowledge. The qualities of a benevolent monarch. Qualities which she knew she would never live up to.

But it was due to mere fate that she would become the 100th Empress of Britannia. She had encountered criticism from around her, especially from the aristocracy whose members had wanted to restore their status; they had wanted Schneizel as the Emperor. They would have also settled for her older half-sister, Cornelia li Britannia, the Second Princess of Britannia, but both had declined, for different reasons.

* * *

**"_My allegiance and loyalty lies with Zero. If Zero chooses to serve Britannia, I will serve Britannia. If he chooses to cast Britannia in flames, then I shall douse it in oil for him."_**

**"_No… I believe Nunnally, or rather, Her Majesty will usher Britannia into a new era of prosperity and peace. I tire of politics; I have lost so much from it all."_**

* * *

Those words had left Nunnally alone to take the throne, and she stood above the entire world, by herself. Even if Schneizel was there for her consistently, he was still serving her merely on Zero's orders. Cornelia had faded into the background, keeping true to her word. Day in and day out, the nobility had attempted to tell her what to do. She was tiring of it all. She wanted the simple days. She wanted to return to the days of the Kururugi Shrine with her brother and Suzaku and spend them happily.

But she realized there was no return. She couldn't run away. Even if she wanted to, she did not have two good feet to support herself on. She had always relied on Lelouch. And now he was gone, leaving Suzaku behind in his stead.

Except it wasn't Suzaku. He was Zero. He had the mask on day in and day out. She had never seen him remove the mask. She understood why he and Lelouch had done what they had done, but it she didn't know whether she could truly ever fully forgive him. She loved him, but she wasn't sure if she ever wanted to see his face again. Things were fine as they were; she figured she'd forgive him eventually.

* * *

"Ms. Britannia!" a harsh voiced called out, stirring her from her thoughts. Nunnally looked lost as she stared at the source of the voice; a portly, lightly tanned man. He was staring at the siblings with an air of superiority, despite being on the lower ground.

'Nunnally vi Britannia, the Empress of the Holy 'Empire' of Britannia," he boomed, with each word coated with spite and arrogance, "surely you realize that it is hopeless for this war to continue any further? Your troops have been bested in the Battle of Caracas…"

Nunnally bit her lip. If possible, she would have liked to avoid the war moreso than the man speaking below her. However, she held no power. The nobility had forced her to lay the foundation for a constitutional monarchy, establishing a Parliament. It was seen as a positive move, a move that the public lauded. But they had taken the positions for themselves. They were the ones in charge. All she existed for was to represent the country, to take blame for its faults.

'…and furthermore, we have complete control of the entire Southern Hemisphere, go as far into your territory even up to Dallas, and captured the Knight of Four," he boasted. "Do you truly intend to sacrifice your people in a needless slaughter or will you and Britannia recognize the sovereignty of the newly established Federation of Britannian Commonwealths?"

* * *

"Is that all you have to say, Mr. Representative?" another voice interjected, to Schneizel's right. All heads turned to look at the speaker. It was Warlton, whose nose was flaring as he brandished a toxic glare at the infidel who had dared to speak in such a manner to his Empress.

'You forget that we have the largest standing military power in the entire world. Before your so-called 'rebellion', you accounted for a mere fifteen percent of our power. It is only a matter of time before your pathetic rag-tag resistance crumbles and you come crawling back, begging to be accepted. Do you think we will accept you? Never!"

Warlton slammed his balled fist into the table, sending a glass of water tumbling onto the floor, the drops splattering over some nearby people. They were too frozen to even seem to care.

The representative below looked appalled at the very thought, having grown confident that his early string of victories would be enough to pressure a world which had grown tired of war to negotiate to his favor. Worried murmurs began leaking throughout the hall at Warlton's indignant counter.

'Do not also forget, that the support of the United Federation of Nations is effective in word only!" Warlton thundered, silencing the members before Kaguya even had the chance to open her mouth. He truly looked intimidating from Nunnally's viewpoint. The man was too direct. This was a room of peace and negotiation; not one of threats and potential violence. It seemed that he was going to suffer the repercussions of directly insulting the UFN's name afterward.

'What support can the UFN give but verbal protest?" Warlton sneered, lampooning the Federation's representative, "The Order of the Black Knights was the backbone of the UFN's force. They've all but been disbanded by Zero himself. What can one man do to help a group of weak nations against an army of the world's most elite Knightmare Frames?"

Silence permeated the room as the Federation's representative paled, sputtering this way and that as he looked for some way to respond correctly to Warlton's anger. Nunnally felt a tiny shred of gratitude drowning in a sea of her opposition to Warlton's words.

She had not come to the meeting to challenge the Federation so that the war may be prolonged. She had come to effectively establish a timeline for a treaty, one which would recognize the Commonwealths as an independent series of nations. But it seemed that her plans were for naught. Her brother's sacrifice was in vain.

* * *

"That's quite enough for now," a female's voice called out firmly, shattering the fragile silence. It was Kaguya; despite her young appearance, the UFN Chairman was absolutely disgusted. "This is a room where we are to establish peace, not declare and prolong war upon each other! Do you both call yourselves representatives to your respective countries? Are we to repeat the atrocities of years past? "

Nunnally silently thanked Kaguya as the Chairman sighed, apparently stressed out. People got up and began arguing animatedly as Kaguya sank back into her chair and called for a recess.

She watched as Schneizel rose from his seat and whisper a few words to Warlton, who was still standing with his fist still planted firmly into the desk. It seemed to have calmed the fiery representative, who slumped and turned toward Nunnally as Schneizel grasped the handles of her wheelchair. The three of time began following the crowd out the door.

"Thank you for your speech, Representative Warlton," Nunnally spoke first as they reached the grand, polished doors that lead to the outside and onto the streets of Japan.

* * *

Sunlight greeted them as they looked at the landscape that made up a newly growing Tokyo. The frameworks of buildings were in place, each seeming to catch a bit of the horizon in between. The land seemed to slope off as the crater in which the constructed buildings were being built upon was smoothed off to decline at a steady angle, removing any indication that a lavender ball of death had ever been fired off.

'However, that was not my intention, to continue the war any longer," Nunnally continued, with the feeling of powerlessness molding itself into an ugly lump inside her. "Why is it not possible for the Federation and its people to enjoy peace and pursue their own freedom?"

"Your Highness, it is not simply a matter of pursuing freedom," Warlton chided lightly and with a less aggressive face. He walked forward slightly and turned around to face the young Empress, "I share the same sentiments as you, but they were the ones who had pulled the trigger upon us first."

Nunnally could not argue that. The Federation had declared their independence, and war upon Britannia both upon the same day, taking two military bases and the rest of the world completely by surprise as they blitzed through the continent. However... the war ending now would prevent more needless deaths. Directly challenging them would lead to more deaths, even if the outcome was better for them.

'In addition to that, what would happen if we allowed them to secede like that?" Warlton asked, frowning slightly, "There would be repercussions. We clearly need the southern continent for resources. There are also the tensions with the European Union. Surrendering now would lead to an inevitable attack upon our soil by the E.U."

"Do not worry, your Majesty," Schneizel's voice seemed infinitely more soothing than Warlton's hardened speech. "We shall ratify a treaty that will take into account every party's interests, and we shall do so bearing respect to your wishes above all else. I promise you that."

"…Thank you Brother Schneizel." Nunnally smiled faintly, still unsure of whether Schneizel's words would be able to win over Warlton, whose presence seemed to be like that of a brewing storm.

"I told you, please don't refer to me in that manner."

* * *

The sound of a phone call echoed around them, and the siblings watched as Warlton fished into his pocket and produced a sleek, black phone. The phone rang shrilly twice before Warlton flipped it open and put it against his ear.

"Warlton speaking," he sounded much calmer as opposed to before, "I'm in the middle of a meeting here."

The thin representative was silent momentarily before uttering a "I understand" and hung upon. He looked at Nunnally and Schneizel as the phone was deposited back into its resting place.

"I truly am sorry for my rudeness for before," he stated, bowing before her, "but I have to take leave. I have a matter I must attend to."

He began to walk down the steps of the building, pushing against other representatives who were crowding to walk back in before pausing. He jogged back up the stairs slightly to find Nunnally and Schneizel still there.

"That reminds me… there is an exhibition next week at the Tokyo National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. It would an honor if Your Highness could attend."

Without even waiting for Nunnally's response, he walked back down the stairs briskly and off into the street, leaving the Empress and her advisor speechless, before they turned around to walk back into the building.

* * *

**A/N: Revised Chapter 3. As some of you have noticed, I've deleted half my story. Chapters 4-6 are gone; the reason being that I wish to spend more time with them; I feel that I can do way better with them. Some of the details will be altered, some removed entirely and some left the same. But the result will be far better than whatever I originally produced. Thank you for bearing with me. Also, input is nice. Even a simple, "this should go here" suffices.**

**Also, from reading the reviews again, I noticed a user "Azomarite" asked this: Are Lelouch and C.C. going to be alive again? IIRC, C.C. was alive at the end of the show, so.. that's self-explanatory. As for Lelouch, I dislike the idea of reviving a dead character because it will lessen the impact that it will have upon what he was sacrificed for. However, I'm not closing off the suggestion entirely. I may, I may not bring him back.  
**


	4. Reason to Fight

**Author's Notes at bottom.**

* * *

**Tokyo Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation**

A familiar face was there to greet him as he walked up the steps slowly. She was standing there, showing little signs of emotion at his presence. It was no surprise to him, from his understanding of the circumstances between his assumed role and her. It hurt him slightly on the inside as well on a daily basis; to don the very visage which had whisked away a life precious to them both.

And there was his interaction with her as a person. For some reason, he appeared a monster to her during his time at Ashford Academy. He understood her phobia, and accepted it readily without saying anything to explain himself. Another burden which was added onto his shoulders, although from what he had heard, that weight seemed to have dissipated. One of the few signs that Lelouch's sacrifice had not been in vain.

Finally, there was that other incident. Thirty-five million people gone, in the blink of an eye, although the landscape around them gave very little indication that the calamity had ever occurred, save for the gaping crater downtown. Who was to blame; the creator or the one who pulled the trigger?

Zero wasn't sure how to deal with this impending interaction. It was true, that she did not know of his identity, but with every passing step, his heart seemed to weigh him down more and more, as it pounded even more fervently.

Was it the heart of Zero or the heart of Suzaku Kururugi which beat erratically in apprehension? Perhaps it was a bit of both, he decided, as he cleared the final step and stood before the scientist-in-training.

He was taller than her by a fair amount, but the darkness which saturated his outfit seemed to amplify the height difference. It almost seemed like a scene ripped from a classical movie.

"Lord Zero, thank you for being able to make it today."

Nina Einstein's voice was filled with courtesy; Zero could trace no hints of bitterness against him; his heart seemed to beat less sporadically, although he felt the uneasiness swirl about inside him. Perhaps Lelouch had focused all the hatred in the world onto him before he passed away. Or perhaps it had a smaller, more focused impact. Who knew what the young man had thought. Even with all the details of Zero Requiem and events past revealed to him, Suzaku had always felt that Lelouch was still keeping secrets from him.

The two began walking together toward the entrance of the facility, drawing stares and excited whispers from all about. Zero ignored them for the most part, although he visualized the thought of how they would react if he were to remove his mask on the spot. It would probably be one of intense disbelief, followed by anger and denial. Suzaku Kururugi… lapdog of the Holy Empire of Britannia, the same as Zero, the savior of the world? Absolutely blasphemous.

* * *

The transparent glass doors opened with a consistent, low volume hiss as the two stepped into the building. It was a spacious room, probably enough to fit several Knightmare Frames at once. Zero looked about in wonder as he continued walking.

The central attraction in the entire room seemed to be two gigantic replicas of Knightmare Frames. Zero stared the meticulously arranged replicas in wonder and disbelief as the color on one of the models had thrown him off, but he recognized the two models, frozen in eternity to combat one another.

Zero pointed at the machines and turned his head to Nina, who walked up behind him.

"Are those two models…?"

Nina nodded to confirm his thoughts. "Yes, it's of the Lancelot Albion and the Guren S.E.I.T.E.N."

Zero looked back at the two figures. The Guren seemed to retain its usual color of a dull reddish-purple, stuck in a lunging pose that would never hit its opponent, the Lancelot.

The Lancelot itself was the one that seemed off. It could no longer stand to hold the moniker of "White Knight"; it was submerged in a midnight black, with silver adorning its once gold chest, forearms and legs.

A feeling of nostalgia washed over Zero as he continued to stare at the two replicas, locked forevermore in combat. It was not a friendly feeling; it was more of repulsion. It was as though someone had ripped apart his chest and begun to examine his insides. His life the past two years… it had been the reason why every event had transpired the way they had. It was part of the reason why he was trapped in this forsaken role, doomed to act as the hero he would never become for the rest of his life.

"It certainly is a fitting theme to this museum," Zero commented dryly; apparently Nina had caught his sarcasm and allowed a look of confusion onto her face.

"I don't understand what you meant by that."

"The Guren… I'm sure the people of Japan have much to be thankful for toward it and its pilot," Zero stated, turning sharply to face her, "but the Lancelot Albion? I hardly think it would be looked at favorably by the public… after all, the traitor Suzaku Kururugi piloted it."

There was a brief, stunned moment of silence between the two, as Nina looked at him, appalled. Zero felt his stomach curl slightly; perhaps he had crossed a certain boundary he shouldn't have.

Nina's voice dropped until it was nothing more than a barely audible whisper. "I don't think he was a traitor…"

"…he betrayed his homeland. He betrayed his Emperor. How could you possibly not think that he was a traitor?"

Nina looked away, but not before Zero caught the gloomy expression surface like a dead body in her eyes.

"…because he was Princess Euphemia's knight. I don't think the Princess would have chosen anyone like that to become her knight."

Zero froze. The mention of the Third Princess' name had chilled him to the marrow. It had been a while since someone had mentioned her name, and Zero felt a deep pain resounding within him. His knees went soft; he had gone on rather well in comparison to his current state regarding her death… Lelouch had delivered upon his promise. The name of the "Massacre Princess" had been long forgotten.

But he could not display sorrow here. No one could know of his identity. No one. There was probably only two existences out there who knew, but they would never say anything.

Zero struggled to regain his composure; his knees felt as though they would give way from the weight of the sorrow and pain.

"I… I'm sorry," he muttered, finally managing to regain some feeling within his legs once more. "I did not mean to offend you in any manner."

Nina shook her head to wave it off. "No, don't worry so much about it. In fact, there's probably something that you should see for yourself. Follow me please."

The young woman strode off as if the awkward moment had never occurred. Zero stared after her, wondering what it could be that she had wanted to show him, before he realized that he was going to get nowhere by standing around. He began running after her, much to the amusement and admiration of several nearby people.

* * *

**Bolivia, ****"Federation of Britannian Commonwealths"**

The torrential downpour clashed against the sakuradite-laced body; the sound of the pitter-patter resembled the occasional mouse which had used to settle down in his old mansion. It was a pleasant sound; there were seldom moments like these during missions in which he could relax without having to worry about the harrowing details. His feet rested upon the dashboard, somehow evading the intricate layout of controls as he leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed serenely.

He wondered about the mouse. The animal didn't really matter to him in the grand scheme of things, but he wondered if it was still there. He had never paid the critter much attention, but it seemed that it gave her some amount of grief during her time at his home. He had only heard about her troubles from his parents, who grumbled about a maid who couldn't even properly dispose of a tiny mammal. It was probably fear which kept her from utilizing all the skills a maid possessed to combat the tiny vermin.

It was not surprising that she was afraid; Gino Weinberg had known that she was afraid of a good number of things, ranging from flashes of lightning to insects. Perhaps that was what first had attracted the young noble. Or perhaps, it had been some other reason. He didn't remember exactly when, where or how it had occurred' it was one of those clichéd instances where he had fallen victim to Eros' oft straying arrow. He had fallen in love with her before he realized it and the situation he was going to put her in.

Now that he looked back, perhaps it was not the most prudent decision he had settled up. By making his feelings known to her, he had only burdened her with an additional fear. Perhaps if it were a different world, she would not have had those fears, but those were the cards that life dealt. They would just have to hide it from his parents. He was confident that he would be able to hide it from them forever, or at least until he was old enough to spread his wings and leave the nest.

Yet, that was the naiveté of love at such an age, as Gino wrinkled his nose, fighting the urge to sneeze. The sneeze prevailed, just like how his parents had eventually found out on that day. He was utterly powerless to do anything, even protest. He could only tremble in fear, guilt and anger as he watched his father rain blow after blow upon the poor, wretched thing, much like how the precipitation slammed upon the Tristan in a never-ending torrent.

She never received a respite or a second chance. He watched with agony as his father had grabbed her by the hair when his seemingly incessant anger ebbed and drag her to the door, ignoring her wails of pain. The wailing stopped when she hit the paved road outside, replaced by broken sobs. And the door slammed on her, but not before Gino saw her broken figure one last time. It was too much at that point. Gino ran to his room, hating his parents, hating the cruelty of racial differences, hating the world in its entirety. But most of all, he hated himself for being powerless. For being so foolish and ignorant, unable to do anything a man could and should do.

He felt like a man on that day, however. He took the first and last step from his home. He didn't care to look back; he was casting away unwanted luggage. His parents, his ignorant lifestyle, and above all else, his old self. The Knights of the Round… he was going to join the best of the elite and prove himself, although it didn't seem too likely that he would receive that chance, since the Black Rebellion was all but crushed by Suzaku Kururugi…

* * *

"Gino, commence operation in thirty seconds," a voice called out, snapping the young man's semi-troubled reverie in half. Gino opened his eyes slowly and sighed casually. As usual, the Knight of Five showed no desire for relaxation. He was about as punctual as ever.

The grey screen in front of him gave way to a lush, vibrant display of green. It seemed that like there was nothing upon his visuals, but Gino knew what was there. He could faintly make out the outline of a Knightmare Frame in front of him; the rain helped to improve the sighting by splattering in midair. Inside that Knightmare Frame, the Agravain… the Knight of Five, Sven Berdan waited patiently for Gino Weinberg to prepare himself.

The casual look disappeared off Gino's face as he slid his feet off the Tristan's controls and sat back in his seat in a regular sitting position. His fingers raced across the controls, forcing the multicolored Knightmare Frame to awake from its slumber.

The Core Luminous had barely finished activating as the sound of underbrush being trampled upon notified the young pilot that the Agravain had begun to move. Sven wasn't in any hurry however; Gino was free to take his time as long as he moved within under a minute.

"Hey, how come you're the one leading this mission?" Gino wondered aloud, but the only response he received was the continued crunching of vegetation and the occasional shrieking of some bird or beast in the distance.

There was no need for Sven to answer the newly appointed Knight of Two. While it was true that Gino was the superior of the two overall, Gino was relegated to nothing more than a support unit.

'Fine… I was only trying to converse a bit, y'know," Gino complained moodily through the speaker. He continued to sulk as the silence continued to hover around him.

He was designated to protect the Agravain for this mission and partake in the second half. The higher ups had decided this as he was the most experienced, aside from the only other surviving Knight from two years ago, Nonette Eneagram, the former Knight of Nine, who had been promoted to his former position. She was most likely leading the other Knights of the Round into battle against the rebels somewhere else upon this war-stricken continent.

Gino attempted to start a conversation once more, but the silence continued. He took that as a sign to admit defeat. He sat there, stony-faced as the two machines traveled rather clumsily over the uneven terrain, although from an outsider's point of view, it seemed that only the Tristan was inebriated. The Agravain was spared the possible humiliation because of its invisibility.

The rumbling caused by the machines crossing the terrain was a pleasant sensation at first for the blonde young man, almost as though he were sitting in a massage chair. A jolt went up his spine as the Tristan seemed to have gone over either a log or a small boulder. Gino suddenly felt the urge to have the Tristan revert into its Fortress Mode and take to the skies, before being shot down by the realization that doing so would compromise their primary objective.

He would just have to bear with the incessant vibration, which began to irritate him further and further. He wondered how much longer they would have to travel in this environment; it was probably because they fought in this environment that the Britannian military had suffered embarrassing defeats. It was the perfect stage for springing traps and utilizing guerilla tactics…

"Hold it," Sven's voice, carrying a commanding resonance, cleaved through the rain's consistent clatter, causing his partner to stop his machine abruptly. The resonance died out as soon as it had arrived, allowing the rain to resume its business.

The Tristan swiveled in place slightly, as Gino attempted to survey the surroundings and find what had caused his partner to speak for the first time. It seemed that there was nothing out of place. But Gino knew better than to question Sven; both the Knight of Five and the Agravain were much better suited for situations such as these. The Tristan's strength happened to be its versatility, given it was an open environment, but upon dense surroundings, the Seventh Generation Agravain was second to none.

Gino furrowed his eyebrows as he waited for further instructions; there seemed to be nothing wrong. Only the rain and lush vegetation were visible. Perhaps Sven was being overly cautious, which would only delay the completion of their objective.

"Sven, what's going on?"

"Don't move, boy," the voice once again sounded harsh and commanding, "look right in front of you."

Gino looked; in front of him was a small piece of metal, jutting out from under the foliage like a child playing hide-and-seek. The sides had small orbs which seemed to be glowing a cryptic green, giving it an eerie jack-o-lantern smile. Gefjun Disturbers. There were several more which decorated the nearby trees, resembling a swarm of large, prehistoric beetles

"Is that what you were worried about, Sven?" Gino sighed, letting out a chuckle and shaking his head. "Our Frames are protected against these kinds of things, you know. A Gefjun Disturber or several isn't going to stop us…"

The sound of the underbrush cracked once more as the Tristan resumed moving, but not before Gino heard a guttural, "STOP!" ring through his cockpit. Once more, the Tristan stopped moving, this time inches away from the seemingly harmless incandescent layout of orbs.

Gino turned to see the barrel of a massive rifle pointed in his face, much to his bewilderment. It was directly in his face, to the point where he could see each individual water droplet fall steadily from the barrel. If he had to guess, Sven was extremely angry, enough to have the Agravain emerge from its cloak and directly brandish a destructive weapon in front of him. But why he was angry confused Gino. What was so infuriating about passing through a series of harmless devices?

'Do _not_ do anything stupid that will jeopardize the mission," Gino heard Sven snarl. "Harmless, but there for more than one purpose. We take a different route."

Gino opened his mouth to argue, but the Agravain vanished from sight once more before starting upon a different path, leaving a new path of wrecked flora in its wake. Gino stared after him before sighing. Even with overall superiority in the chain of command, he was still relatively powerless. This was why he liked relaxing better than actually partaking in missions. Sven was just too uptight for his own good.

* * *

**Tokyo National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation**

It was dim. The lights had been toned down so that the shadows could emerge and transform the large room into their playground. To Zero, however, the dim lighting had made the room even darker. His eyes strained slightly as they struggled to adjust to their new surroundings.

Zero imagined that they were in some sort of storage room. Yet, this resembled more of a war factory rather than the storage room of a museum given from the amount of space alone. He saw the young woman in front of him stop before an object; his eyes were brought to the object.

It was extremely large. Despite the darkness, the white armor seemed to gleam with life, almost as though it were meeting an old friend once more. It shouldn't have surprised Zero from what Nina had hinted at earlier before in the lobby, yet he could not help but being surprised.

The Lancelot was standing before him, brought back to life.

"The Lancelot Albion," Nina announced, gesturing toward it in the same fashion a game show host would a prize.

Zero stared in wonder, unsure of whether it really was the Lancelot which stood before him, or whether it was the shadows playing tricks upon him. It stood before him, waiting silently for him to either accept its existence or deny it.

"H-how is this possible…?" Zero asked, stunned. He took a step slightly back, nearly catching his foot in his cape in the process. "It... it was destroyed onboard the Damocles…"

"You'll have to thank Professor Lloyd for that," Nina informed him. "He managed to salvage most of the parts of the Lancelot. It's not a complete reconstruction; the arm and the leg are still incomplete."

Zero seemed to have gotten over the initial shock of the Knightmare Frame standing before him. What bothered him was _why _the machine was standing before him. There was no need for the Lancelot anymore… there was no one left to pilot it. Yet, why was it still there?

"Why would Professor Lloyd do something like this?" Zero asked, bewildered. He looked at the assistant, who was standing there calmly despite his confused outburst and back at the Lancelot once more. "Kururugi is dead. The machine is nothing without its pilot…"

Nina shook her head. "I do not understand fully, either." She looked at the machine as well, but not before a faint smile emerged upon her face. "But if I had to guess… Suzaku was probably just as important as the Lancelot to the Professor… this is just his way of expressing his remembrance. If you think about it, the Professor really is bad at expressing his feelings clearly. This is probably the only way which he could do it properly and with emotion."

* * *

**Bolivia, ****"Federation of Britannian Commonwealths"**

"Visual confirmation of target. Proceeding with mission," Gino heard Sven state over the speaker, with relative calmness. Whatever anger had preceded seemed to dissipate, being replaced by a steady tension and awkward silence as the Knight of Two had followed his temporary superior through a longer, yet safer, alternate route. Yet, they had somehow reached their destination on time, as the precipitation had let up, giving way to a dreary sky. Once more, they were to play a waiting game, one Gino was not so adept at or keen on playing.

But the Knight of Five seemed to be better suited, or at least he had work which kept him occupied. The Agravain was much further out from him; the Tristan had no invisibility capabilities, resulting in a need to stay hidden. A series dull thuds and imprinting of several large circles upon the muddy earth told Gino that Sven had set up the tripod of the modified VARIS rifle; designed to act as a high rate sniper rifle.

Their target was several hundred yards or so away. Gino could see the ant-sized outlines of various Gloucester and Sutherland models scurrying about actively; no doubt they were vigilant about keeping their security up in the face of an attack. It was probably even more active because of the Knights' objective, the rescue of the Knight of Four.

The mission itself was delicate; both men had seen the various structures littering the stage, providing cover for the unaware rebels. The structures seemed to be abandoned houses; the inhabitants had probably left after the rebels had moved in. Or that was what Gino assumed, as he could not see any human forms that were unarmed. Sven had only one chance to take out the Knightmare Frames. One miss and the Knight of Four would be imperiled.

One chance was more than enough for the Knight of Five, however. From what Gino had heard, Sven was renowned for being one of the best sharpshooters and tacticians within the Britannian military, despite his low rank. Although sharpshooting was dismissed in favor of the more durable and versatile Knightmare Frame, like almost every other method of conventional warfare, Sven's skills had carried on over to piloting Knightmare Frames. He was one of the few survivors of the Battle of Narita; effectively realizing the danger of the terrain before anyone else could; the rest of Darlton's unit had been engulfed by the ravenous mudslide.

The seconds seemed to tick by slowly as Gino continued staring at the screen. It seemed that the Gloucesters and Sutherlands were moving about in a more organized manner. He could also spot several helicopters in the distance. Attached to them was a crate; the distance from the flying vehicles seemed to give the illusion that the crate was being suspended by magic.

And then it emerged. From one of the larger buildings came a pale yellow and white Knightmare Frame. The Sagramore; it was inactive, giving it the look of a dejected prisoner of war.

Following the Knightmare Frame was a procession of people. If the Knightmare Frames looked like ants, the people were mere specks of dust. But the two soldiers saw clearly who their target was. She was in the midst of her captors, handcuffed and battered. She had her head down and her suit was tattered to a large extent; the men could only guess what she had been through up until this point.

_Any moment now…_ Gino thought to himself. Any moment and a torrent of precisely aimed, high-energy bolts would be fired not from the clouds, but from the rifle of his comrade's Knightmare Frame. And he would jump into the fray and clean up whatever mess there was.

Time seemed to slow down as Gino stared at the screen. A door to one of the buildings opened slowly, and Gino's mouth opened in horror as he saw a child emerge from it with a face full of curiosity. He watched in horrified fascination as the child pointed at the Knightmare Frames, cuing his parents to rush outside in greater fear so that they could usher their child back inside where it was presumably safe. They were in direct line of fire.

"Sven… there… a child…" Gino had trouble finding the words as the father scooped up the child, who had begun to protest at his father's dictator-like actions, to no avail. Gino hoped that Sven would notice the child and his parents.

There was no spoken response. Instead, Gino heard a series of deafening shots; the sharpshooter had fired, ignoring Gino's warning; each shot seemed to increase in sound in comparison to its predecessor.

Time seemed to accelerate once more as the shots approach their targets. The first round was a testimony to Sven's skill; it had pierced through two Gloucesters, leaving the body of the second model nearly an entire second before the two Knightmare Frames imploded, sending debris flying in various directions.

If their companions had enough time to process the fact that they were under attack, they were not given the chance to regroup, as one by one, they each exploded, as though the entire attack were a coordinated fireworks display. Remarkably, the Sagramore was unscathed; its pilot was laying facedown near it, but there was no blood upon the floor.

Gino's eyes widened as all thoughts of the mission evaporated; he clutched at the controls in desperation as he searched amongst the smoke and fiery wrecks for signs of the child and his parents. It was all in vain as Gino heard another three bursts; they flew straight and steady toward their targets.

It was all that the helicopters could do to attempt to escape, but the wires attached to the crate had linked them together. The first bolt had pierced straight through the lead helicopter, causing it to explode in a similar fashion as the Gloucesters and Sutherlands several meters below them. The remaining bolts clipped the rotors of the helicopters, causing them to careen wildly in midair before they collided into one other almost awkwardly, meeting the same fate as their sister.

It seemed as though one of the fiery pieces of the helicopters' corpses had decided to play a cruel game of fate with Gino, as it tumbled almost gleefully and smashed into the house from where the child had emerged. The house crumbled almost instantaneously, as another explosion came forth; even if the child and his parents had survived the initial attack; they were more than likely consumed by the explosion. The only evidence to their existence would be a pile of charred corpses, indistinguishable from the debris around them.

"Gino, what are you doing?!" the words blazed throughout the cockpit as Sven barked at the young man, but his words fell upon deaf ears. Gino could only stare as the remaining Sutherlands had managed to regroup and were now taking cover behind the buildings.

'Weinberg, you are jeopardizing the mission!" Sven roared through the speakers, somehow bringing Gino back to reality. "Secure the target this instant!"

"SCREW THE DAMN MISSION!" Gino retorted back, seemingly frothing at the mouth. He slammed his fist against the wall of his cockpit as he forced the video feed on, coming face to face with the cold countenance of Sven Berdan, the Knight of Five. "I KNOW YOU SAW THE CHILD AND HIS PARENTS, BERDAN!!! WHY THE HELL DID YOU SHOOT?!"

"Our priority is the mission, Weinberg," Sven responded steely, his voice growing louder and angrier, "continue to be insubordinate and I will have you charged with treason, regardless of your position, do I make myself clear?"

…_What the hell am I fighting for?! _Gino thought furiously as he stared at the Knight of Five's face; there was no remorse in that face. He clenched his teeth and gritted them with killing intent; he didn't plan on forgiving Berdan and he never would. Nothing he did now would bring back the child and his parents. There were probably other families in the village as well who had been caught in the ravenous flames or impaled by the debris… and he was powerless to stop it, just he had been powerless to come to his former maid's defense.

_DAMMIT! What the hell is wrong with me…? _Gino felt the tears forming around his eyes; this was not the reason why he had joined the Knights of the Round.

This was not the reason why he had pledged loyalty to Britannia and its military.

This was not the reason why he had joined the Order of the Black Knights.

This was not the reason why he had reenlisted in the military.

Above all else, this was not the reason why he had chosen to continue fighting as a soldier.

He needed a reason. The old reason was just not sufficient. It had abandoned him the moment the child was engulfed in the flames. His hands began to tremble violently as the Knight of Five's face remained unemotional and the flames danced underneath the smoke. Any half-assed reason would suit him. He didn't travel several thousand miles just to see an innocent life be robbed before his very eyes.

The sound of distant gunfire caused both men to stare blankly at the site of destruction. They saw a small figure hanging onto a rope with one hand, spinning around it like an acrobat, while firing a discarded firearm in a zealous effort to enter the Sagramore.

The cockpit of the Sagramore opened wide, beckoning for its pilot to enter into its protective innards.

And for a moment, it appeared as though she'd make it. But as she faced the direction of the two pilots, they saw blood trickling down the corner of her mouth daintily, before the gun fell silent and dropped from her hands and into the scorched earth below her. She would follow suit, her eyes stained with the embrace of death, but the earth would have to receive her, as in one fell swoop, the Sagramore exploded as well, sending its pilot's limp body flying before it hit the wall of one of the demolished houses.

There was a stunned silence as the two pilots attempted to analyze what had just happened.

"…Pull out. Our mission was a failure," Sven called out after several moment's silence, as the crunching of vegetation indicated once more that the Agravain was on the move. "Rendezvous with the Knight of Three at Point B at eighteen-hundred, UTC Four time."

Gino could barely operate the Tristan, but somehow, his limbs had decided to operate without his shattered mind. The Tristan turned and moved several feet, but not before the Agravain stopped momentarily.

"This mission is on your head, Weinberg," Sven stated callously. "I'll have you at the mercy of court martial after your insubordination today."

* * *

**A/N:**

**Revision of Chapter Four. I intended to get this up earlier, but it's been an extremely crappy two weeks for me. Crappy being an understatement. If the trend continues, I probably won't be able to write until mid to late June. This chapter is pretty much a reflection of how peeved I am, well, at least Gino's part is. At least it goes with the plot.  
**

**Gino's "backstory" at the beginning of the chapter was based upon the CG light novels. I have never read them; all I know is the major, encompassing details, where Gino fell in love with an Eleven and eventually got caught. This is my version of it, although it is very condensed. So if you've read it, well... feel free to let me know what really happened.  
**

**Random note: Sven and Agravain go hand in hand. I wanted to continue the trend of the Knights of the Rounds, as well as match their personalities, and it happens Agravain and Sven go together like bread and butter. Toasted bread, that is.  
**


	5. Half and Half

* * *

**5th Circinate Line**

She was completely oblivious to the screeching of the wheels upon the tracks, completely oblivious to the sun streaming down upon her face as she stared out the window; completely oblivious to the frameworks of the buildings reaching up into the sky to catch the elusive rays of light. She could have cared less if she saw her reflection upon the window, which was faint and kept darting in and out of sight with every turn of the rails, almost as though it were afraid of her.

It had good reason to be afraid. It was not the only thing which seemed to be afraid of her; there seemed to be no people within a five foot radius of her. The only factor which inhibited the radius from expanding ever further was the fact that the subway was cramped. At the very least, that spared Kallen from having to deal with potential perverts who loved seizing opportunities to grope young women such as her. Or it probably spared those said perverts from her wrath, which seemed to be boiling over as the people nearest her noted her scowl and cast nervous glances at her.

The scowl seemed to be affixed on her, but after a few seconds, the young half-Britannian, half-Japanese girl sighed and relaxed her facial muscles, eliciting a pleasant shift in the atmosphere. It had been a tedious day for her, especially because of that eccentric man… the Earl of Pudding as he was uncommonly referred to. It was one thing to be on opposite sides in the past, but it was another to have said former opposition consistently ask for favors. It looked like she was not only going to get to class late, but she was going to have to stay up all night studying once more.

* * *

**Britannian Consulate, Tokyo Concession**

"_What exactly is this about?" Kallen asked, eyeing the two men before her with a suspicious look. She had no idea why she was asked to come, but she had a sinking feeling that she did not want to hear it. However, she decided to take the seat in front of her, doing so in a cautious manner._

_As a matter of fact, she did not even know why she came. She had wanted to refuse Professor Lloyd, who was sitting directly in front of her wearing his usual outfit despite sporting new bifocals. There was something about his smile which irked her to no end; she wondered how Nina could stand working for such an odd looking character._

_To his left sat another man, but he appeared to be the direct opposite of the nonchalant professor. The dim lighting bounced off the various creases in his face, which Kallen guessed was from wearing the frown so often that it became permanent. His appearance, even if it was the one of a well dressed individual, was not someone one would want to encounter in the clichéd dark alleyway._

"_Ms. Stadfelt, it is an honor to meet you," the man spoke, sending a chill reverberating throughout the redhead's spine, "an honor, meeting the ace pilot of the infamous Order of the Black Knights."_

_Kallen blushed slightly, lowering her head. Her necklace seemed to follow as well, deciding to share some of the embarrassment as well. The title was not one which Kallen was so willing to accept or acknowledge readily, whether publicly or privately._

"_I… I don't really go by that title," she responded, finding some small token of confidence. She looked at the suited man directly in the eye, "and the name is Kouzuki, not Stadfelt."_

_The man's expression did not change in the slightest at this minor outburst. "I see. Well, forgive my mistake; I had gone along with what appeared in your school's records. No mistaking it now that I look closely; you do have the appearance of a… Japanese person." _

_The words had set off a small flare within Kallen's head; she caught the change in tone at the last word; his head seemed to angle slightly upward as his voice assumed a derisive stance. It seemed like the two men had made it their mission to nurture the seed of irritation which had been planted inside her head, and they were cultivating it excellently, as Kallen attempted to control herself with some level of difficulty._

'_No matter," the man continued, not noticing Kallen's stature, which was rigid and frozen in place, "whether you are Japanese, a Middle Eastern, a Britannian, or whoever. The main point is, you have demonstrated considerable talent, and it has been noted."_

"_What the man is trying to get at here is that he wants you to work for him temporarily," Lloyd interjected. His partner gave a small grunt to show that he was displeased with having Lloyd represent him for such a trivial matter._

_Across the table, Kallen's irritation did not disappear, but merged with a slight form of curiousity._

"_What kind of work?" _

_There was no verbal response, but the man reached over to his left and pulled a suitcase up onto the table and opened it. The rustling of papers could be heard as he withdrew a folder and displayed its contents before the young woman._

_She recognized them almost immediately; but then again, almost anyone living in this time and age could do so as well. It was the signature mark of the era. The humanoid frame was decorated with numbers and words which she could not understand at first glance but there was nothing to understand other than the fact that the man before her wanted her to pilot this conceived beast._

"_Well?" the man asked with some amount of pride. "What do you say? We could always use another individual such as you for the Knights of the Round, since our Knight of Five has been reported killed in action."_

_The last sentence struck Kallen with profound force. She didn't know why she allowed herself to be shaken up by his words, but they lingered about within her ears, echoing hollowly on their way to her brain. She had no idea who the Knight of Five was, but it was a death all the same. It was ironic, how she, an angel of death in the previous age would tremble at the death of a stranger._

"…_Excuse me?" was all that Kallen could utter as her arms felt limp and her stare became vacated._

"_We want you to become one of the Knights of the Round," the man stated once more, showing no signs of impatience, "for the sake of peace. That was what the Order of the Black Knights fought for, is that not so?"_

"_It's not!" the anger surged through her limbs, filling them with vigor once more as she stood up angrily and slammed both her hands on the table. The chair she had been sitting upon rolled back in a hasty retreat before hitting the wall with a soft clatter, before giving way to the ragged breaths that the former pilot took in order to contain herself._

_Lloyd looked pleasantly surprised; his companion, however, retained the same stony countenance he wore when Kallen had first arrived. Kallen's glare intensified to the point where its sharpness could cut through the awkward silence but the man remained unfazed. This would have impressed Kallen had she not been in such a foul mood._

"_How is it not?" the man asked calmly. "What we are doing right now is no different than the means and tactics employed by the Black Knights in the previous war. We would rather, however, use diplomacy to settle the dispute. I had hoped that you, being one who saw action directly… no, rather, participated in the action directly would understand this."_

_Kallen trembled even harder at these words. "How… how is the construction of a Knightmare Frame and the selection of a pilot for that machine anywhere near diplomacy?"_

_The cold and silent stare which continued to permeate the thick atmosphere infuriated her even more as Kallen balled her hands into fists and clenched tightly, restraining herself from beating some sense into the man._

"_If you had agreed to piloting the machine, you would have been asked to display the firepower of the Knightmare itself. A display of indirect force showing the true power of Britannia would convince them to lay down their arms," he stated confidently, folding his arms, "unlike Japan, whose pride went in over their heads and caused their downfall."_

_There were several words which could have thrown Kallen off the edge and his words had done the job effectively, as Kallen roared angrily and lunged toward the man, ignoring the obstacles in her path. She ignored Lloyd as the scientist gave a tiny squeal and leapt out of harm's way, although barely, as he tumbled backwards and landed on his rear end. All she wanted to do right now was to maul the man, tear him apart, vaporize him… whatever got the job done and erased his existence._

_The man did not budge from his position, nor did he attempt anything as Kallen grabbed his neatly dry cleaned suit by the cuffs and brought his face close to her enraged one. _

"_Who the hell do you think you are?!" Kallen spat at him callously, her eyes bulging with a manic frenzy, growing more and more agitated by the second as the man's unwavering stare, "what makes you think you can say all that? You haven't even experienced anything about war!"_

"_I believe I am the Britannian co-Representative to the UFN, Franklin Warlton," the man replied, causing Kallen's grip to slacken slightly before he freed himself in one fluid motion, taking the redhead by complete surprise, "and it would do nicely not to assume anything about one's experiences."_

"_Well, I believe Ms. Kouzuki gave her reply," a nervous chuckle came from the corner, as Lloyd made his presence known, standing up jerkily. He adjusted his glasses slightly and used his other hand to dust his clothes completely before looking at the pair. "It can't be helped if she doesn't want to do it, after all, she is Japanese and not Britannian."_

"_What race she is does not matter," Warlton stated calmly, shifting in his seat calmly, "after all, when you look at recent history, one of Britannia's greatest knights prior to the Battle of Mount Fuji was Japanese, not Britannian."_

_Kallen managed to open her mouth to retort, but she immediately found herself being led out by Lloyd, who muttered a simple excuse about how she was still a student and needed to attend class. She managed to throw one final scathing glance at the Representative, who had finally seemed to show some signs of being relieved of having escaped death's jaws by a mere centimeter._

_The door slid shut rather silently as the two found themselves in an empty corridor, save for some workers who were using the hall as a means to proceed to their destination. Kallen's glare remained as hard as it was before she had left before the room, although the lighting seemed to have softened it. She stared at the professor, demanding an answer from him silently._

"_Well, that went rather smoothly, didn't it?" Lloyd laughed feebly, stopping altogether when he saw that Kallen's expression had become concrete, much like the Representative inside the room. _

"_Why did you stop me?" Kallen asked, although in that place and time, it was presented more as a command to Lloyd. "I don't care if he's the Representative of Britannia or even the Emperor; I would have rearranged his head right there."_

"_But at least you didn't have to pilot the machine, right? Not to mention that assaulting an international figure is a crime... you're lucky he let you off like that," he decided to test Kallen's patience by smiling once more before the smile vanished altogether on his own volition, "and even if you did somehow agree to it, I would have protested to some degree."_

_The angry look on Kallen's face melted away rapidly as a confused one emerged to usurp its place. She watched as the professor took his glasses off and wiped them on the edge of his long coat before replacing them on the bridge of his nose, unable to say anything._

"_I worked long and hard on that machine," he continued, instilling a level of seriousness in his words for the first time during the entire meeting, looking at Kallen with eyes which clearly emanated the ugliness of a grudge, "and if I recall, you stole the Guren which I modified, and then proceeded to destroy the Lancelot."_

_Kallen opened her mouth to protest, but once more, the words never came out as Lloyd turned and began to walk away after depositing his accusations. She stared after the retreating figure until he turned around again after several steps._

"_No matter how much more talented you may be, I only recognize one pilot as being worthy enough to pilot my creations. And the exit is down that way, second door to the left. Good day, Ms. Kouzuki."_

* * *

**5th Circinate Line**

Kallen rubbed her jaw muscles; she had frowned for so long that the all the lactic acid within her body had concentrated upon her face. She would not have been surprised if it all burst out of her face like an infected sore, but shuddered slightly at the image.

"…_and that concludes our weather forecast. We now bring you a live update from the Britannian civil war."_

Kallen, along with a majority of the train's occupants looked toward the walls; upon them were installed several television screens, each displaying the same image upon them; an attractive young blonde woman who none of the passengers knew, save Kallen.

"_Thank you, Miranda," _Kallen heard her former classmate announce before she cleared her throat_._ She was accompanied with a string of Japanese words upon the bottom, as they served to translate for the people who could not understand the alien language presented before their ears.

"_After a string of surprising defeats, the Holy Empire of Britannia has managed to defeat the rebel forces of the self-christened 'Federation of Britannian Commonwealths' in the capital of Bolivia, La Paz, yesterday at approximately one o'clock A.M., Japanese time."_

At those words, the image of the young woman disappeared, before giving way to a clip of scorched earth, littered with specks moving about, checking upon other, still specks which Kallen guessed were the bodies of dead or dying people. It had never bothered her to take the life of another, but witnessing the live feed had given birth to a nauseating feeling deep within her; she clutched onto one of the handles for support.

"_Britannian forces led by Her Majesty's Knights of Round had managed to secure the state's capital of La Paz after sustained bombardment which had lasted nearly twelve hours prior to the actual combat. This display of strength came shortly after UFN Representative Franklin Warlton had allegedly issued a challenge to the designated Representative for the Federation of Britannian Commonwealths…"_

Again, the screen changed, this time to the image of a room, filled with well dressed individuals. Kallen saw several familiar faces in there; there was Kaguya Sumeragi, the Chairperson of the UFN, as well as the Empress of Britannia and her aide and brother, Prince Schneizel. And before it all, the very man who had infuriated her before. Surprisingly, he was firing of a display of emotion in contrast to his performance earlier in the conference room, although none of his anger could be heard as the broadcast was muted.

"_The victory comes as a sigh of relief to the Britannian Empire, especially for Her Majesty, whose approval ratings have taken a plunge ever since the onset of the war. Many had expected the war, the largest ever since the death of the Demon Emperor, Lelouch vi Britannia, to simmer down into peaceful summits but bloodshed and destruction is all that the world has witnessed up until this point."_ Milly Ashford's voice continued to carry onward, as the passengers continued to watch the clip of the Representative lead his tirade against the other man.

"Tch… what a pointless battle," a voice muttered, albeit fairly loudly. Almost every head within the car turned to the source of the voice, "honestly, what the hell does Britannia think it's doing?"

* * *

The voice belonged to a teenager who looked to be around Kallen's age, perhaps a bit younger, from the looks of his uniform, which seemed to be that of a high school student's. His bored demeanor and the tone of his voice however, instantly reminded Kallen of Lelouch, the thought of which Kallen instantly crushed in her mind, scolding herself for thinking so in the process.

"They pulled this kind of stunt years ago with the Areas and now they're doing it again?" his voice, which was dripping with sarcasm, seemed to be like ambrosia and honey to the passengers' ears. All except Kallen, who was surprised that she did not agree or disagree with his words. This time, she was reminded more of Tamaki, who more or less matched the student's vocal outburst, but on a frequent basis, except Tamaki was more ridiculed than actually listened to.

'This is all because of the system set up in Britannia," the student continued to drawl, "a monarchy will never work. Ever since the Demon Emperor died, we thought we'd be free from tyranny." He paused and smirked, mostly for effect, swinging his free hand about wildly as the other held onto a handle for balance, "but no… the Demon Emperor's left his idiot sister in his place-"

Whatever else he wanted to say, he never got to say it, as his jaw was impacted by a blunt object with tremendous force and killing intent. He staggered to the side like an inebriated person before collapsing weakly into the arms of several bystanders who appeared absolutely shell shocked at the sudden turn of events.

Kallen's breath was ragged, but she refused to pause and keep her emotions in check as she darted forward to persist her assault upon the impudent student, grabbing his collar roughly and lifting him as though he were a ragged doll.

His face was swelling rapidly on the spot from where she had slammed her fist into his face and there was blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth in a delicate fashion. However, he showed no sign of fear or surprise; it was perhaps she had hit him so hard that his brain had ceased to function anymore.

"Say that again, I dare you," Kallen growled with such ferocity that it would have made even the fiercest of beasts appear to be tame kittens, "what was it about the Demon Emperor?" She was not in any mood whatsoever to show even the slightest smidge of mercy. There was that detestable Representative from earlier and now this student who clearly knew nothing about what he was preaching.

"Heh… that's just like you Britannians to exercise your strength over others," the student said weakly, still daring to voice his unwarranted opinion, "you know, that's exactly why the world hates you all. All you know is how to fight… you're not even human, you know?"

"Shut up!" Kallen drew her fist back to punch the student again, but the train came to a sudden stop, wrecking Kallen's sense of balance. She fell to the floor, along with the boy, who landed near the doors, which had opened for the next stop.

"_We are now at the Shin-Obuko stop. Please be careful while entering and exiting the subway. Thank you and have a nice day," _the overhead speakers announced, cuing the boy to seize his chance and escape from the lioness who was currently incapacitated, struggling to rise up from the floor. He bumped into some people, causing them to yell in surprise and anger before disappearing into the crowd.

Kallen glared at the direction in which the boy had escaped, brushing off the frightened stares of all the other passengers, as the train began to move once more, before realizing with extreme annoyance and dismay that she had missed her stop quite some time before.

* * *

**Outskirts of former Shinjuku Ghetto**

"You're late." The voice seemed to come from all directions as he attempted to peer through the darkness which veiled the direction of the source. It was not completely pitch black, but it was dim enough for the shadows to dominate the area and make it their metropolis.

"Sorry… happened to run into quite the beast on my way here. You have to cut me some slack; it was a life or death experience," the boy shrugged, smiling slightly before wincing from the punch he had received, which was blossoming into a blackish blue bruise.

"Cut the jokes, Velius," the voice sounded slightly agitated, "And before we continue any further, desist with that disguise. It is extremely unpleasant to have to look at the face of an Eleven during a conversation."

Velius did not say anything in response, but grimaced in sarcasm as crimson, bird-like sigil appeared in his left eye as his face appeared as though it was melting. There was a disgusting slurping noise which disappeared in a second, and there stood a figure whose clothes appeared to be too small for him.

"Ah… we'll need a change of clothes," he remarked off handedly, looking at his body in discomfort. His new form was taller, more visually appealing to the as he casually brushed his long, dark hair out of his eyes before he began searching through the darkened room once more. He heard a low scowl of disapproval at the new form, but there was no other objection to his new appearance.

"Be careful of how often you use the Geass' power," the voice warned. "We do not want you to draw attention to yourself, especially in that guise."

Velius' eyes had stopped wandering; they focused in front of him, where he heard footsteps approaching. Presently enough, the figures of two men appeared, one following the other. The man in front looked to be in his mid-fifties, yet his hair was intact and it retained its blonde color, and wore a serious look upon his face as he walked through the teenager.

The man behind him was slightly shorter and much younger. Velius noted that he tread with less confidence as the first man, his sandy brown hair bobbing slightly in front of his wavering blue eyes. For some reason, that man seemed vaguely familiar to him but he couldn't quite place his thumb on it yet.

"You're injured," the man noted brusquely as he stopped in front of Velius, peering at his bruised jaw, "is this why you were late?"

"I told you it was a life or death experience," Velius attempted to laugh it off, but it appeared as though the two men were not amused, as they merely allowed the laughter to bounce of the walls hollowly and fade into the surrounding darkness.

"We're late as it is, I don't need to listen to your sniveling excuses," the man snapped. He turned about and began to walk back into the darkness, with the other man in tow, "follow me."

Velius began to chase after the two men, wondering why the men had chosen this location of all places to meet.

* * *

They walked in silence, albeit for quite some time; Velius imagined that they were in an underground tunnel of sorts, but a sharp pain in his sides began to nag at him and push the thoughts of his head.

The older man paused slightly and looked back at Velius, who had doubled up in exhaustion and began wheezing. Muttering something about physically inept teenagers, he continued walking onward; leaving Velius to either recover or be swallowed up by the creeping darkness.

Velius coughed violently; this was the form he had preferred to take as it was closest to his original appearance and it reminded him of his brother, but he detested and was rather appalled at how physically inept his brother's body was. However, he was aware of the Geass' abilities and limitations. And he was willing to accept the fact that his brother was not blessed with the grace and stamina of an athlete, so long as he could hold onto his brother's image.

Eventually, he recovered enough to continue walking, and it surprised him to find out that the door was several meters away; it was ajar and the light filtered through the cracks like a welcoming beacon. Velius entered the room and covered his eyes slightly; the glaring illumination of the screen was intense; he wondered how the two men before him were unaffected by the light. Perhaps they were inhuman.

"He's here," the blonde man called out to the screen.

* * *

Velius walked over to one of the open seats before him and sat down as he watched a stern looking figure, easily recognizable as the Britannian Co-Representative come on screen, accompanied by a wiry man with glasses in his late twenties. The first figure took a seat to face the three men while the wiry man, much to his annoyance, peered into the camera in shock, magnifying his dumbstruck face in a rather comical fashion upon the screen.

"Good day, gentlemen," the man with glasses remarked, although it seemed as though he were speaking directly to Weinberg only and ignoring the other two.

"Lloyd. Leave us, _now_," the man behind Lloyd ordered coolly, although Velius could detect some impatience within the man's voice

The glass-toting man turned his head slightly, most likely to frown at his superior, but he slinked off the screen without a word, leaving the three men to once again, look upon the steadfast, serious countenance.

"I suppose you've heard about the death of the Knight of Five?" the blonde man asked Warlton.

"I was one of the first to hear about it, Lord Weinberg," the other man replied casually. "And what of your son? I heard he was the direct reason for the failure of her rescue."

The blonde man known as Franz Weinberg scowled fiercely, earning a sardonic smile from the Representative.

"And what of it?"

The smile looked uncharacteristic upon the man's face, but it remained there. "A total disgrace indeed, that an prestigious figure such as yourself would have a son who is incapable of carrying out a single mission. How in heaven's name did he become the Knight of Two?"

"He is not my son," Weinberg snapped back, "and at any rate, how was your meeting with that pilot?"

Warlton sighed almost wistfully, releasing a pack of furrowed wrinkles on his forehead as the muscles began to relax. "We'll have to use another pilot. The girl is completely unwilling to comply with us."

"I surmised as much," Weinberg answered, utilizing the same smile as Warlton against him, "did I not tell you that out of all the former Black Knight members, she would be the most unwilling to join us? Well, in a way, that removes our biggest hindrance all the same. And it removes the need to keep her under constant surveillance."

Velius had no idea who they were talking about, but the bruise upon his jaw seemed to throb harder at that moment for no apparent reason. He wasn't sure if the light brown haired man knew anything; it seemed as though he did, but it could also be that he were maintaining a well played charade.

'But before all that," Weinberg continued, "did you extend the invitation to Her Majesty and Zero?"

"Yes, they accepted it," Warlton replied. His voice became immersed in curiosity, "but what is the purpose of staging it there? Even with Zero as the head of security, it would be too difficult to attempt anything with the heightened security."

Weinberg laughed coldly at the words. "My friend, that is where _he _comes in," he motioned directly at Velius, who wore a lost look upon his face.

"Excuse me? Do what?" Velius asked innocently.

Weinberg smirked evilly, looking at Velius with triumph.

"The assassination of Her Majesty, Nunnally vi Britannia."

* * *

**A/N: Not the original material I had wanted, since my laptop broke and all the files I had on it were gone.**

**Next chapter will be out in 2-3 weeks. Enjoy.  
**


	6. Their Prospective Struggles

* * *

**Britannian Detention Center, La Paz**

"Hm… the weather outside is awful as usual," Gino remarked offhandedly, giving the toothed window a long hard stare.

The blonde soldier sighed. Although he was temporarily a prisoner before, he supposed he now knew how Kallen felt when she was a prisoner of the Britannian military, despite the fact that she was given more 'comfortable' settings and a dress. He looked at the prisoner attire he wore in disgust; a drab, dull brown stared back at him, taunting him. He wouldn't have cared about the verbal backlash; he would much rather be wearing the frilly dress than this outfit which reeked of the conditions around it.

"On second thought… maybe not," he muttered to himself, as the nauseating image entered his brain and attempted to embed itself into his memory. He shook his head in vain, only to groan painfully as the image still lingered.

"Shut up, dammit. You're too loud," a voice outside his cell called out. "Just 'cause you're the Knight of Two don't mean you can run the joint."

Gino got up wearily and shuffled with the liveliness of an insomniac to the bars of his cell. It was no one of importance; just an irritated guard, most likely as he was stuck watching over the rotting prison instead of enjoying himself like the rest of his comrades.

Gino clutched the bars in slight frustration of being told to shut up. The anger inside him welled up even further when he shut his eyes and saw it flash before his eyes: the fiery balls of heat and shrapnel engulf the child and his parents and whoever else was unfortunate enough to be situated in the midst of their operation.

Was it really that much of a war crime to prioritize the life of the innocent above a soldier? Realistically speaking, Gino knew the answer, but it angered him all the more, as he strode back to his seat with much more vigor and slammed the makeshift mud wall with all the force he could muster, intending on leaving a mark of his fury.

He could not generate the power or durability of a Knightmare Frame, however, and there was a dull thud followed by a muffled grimace as Gino held his hand tenderly, trying hard not to double over in pain. Looking around, he sighed when he realized that there was nothing else that was soft enough to absorb his anger. Something softer would have sufficed… something like the face of Sven Berdan.

How that man infuriated him. He had never met anyone who was so bent upon finishing the mission that he ignored the other factors upon the battlefield. A small, nasty thought within his head gleefully countered that notion with the reminder that war does not discriminate against its casualties; it took whatever it could.

A creaking noise managed to distract Gino slightly from bottling up his anger once more, and he walked back to the bars to investigate it. Angling his neck slightly so he could attain a better view, he saw the source of the noise. It was the door, which had opened slightly for an individual to walk in. Gino's face contorted rather unpleasantly when he saw the shock of blonde hair and facial structure akin to his.

"…Dad?" Gino asked incredulously, as the guard outside leapt up and saluted the Britannian noble.

The elder Weinberg took no notice of the guard and instead looked around the area, wrinkling his nose in disgust. After a few seconds, his eyes rested upon Gino's location, and with a dark look, he began walking in the direction of Gino's cell.

The length of time it took for his father to get to the cell seemed almost as though an eternity for Gino; his throat became parched, his knees weak and the color had evaporated from his face in succession as his father finally stopped in front of the cell and looked down at him.

"It's been a while, Gino," his father remarked pleasantly, while wearing a smile, surprising the teenager.

"Y-yeah… it has," Gino found it astounding that he was even able to form the sounds of the words accurately. He was sure that if it weren't for the pounding of the rain outside, the sound of his racing heart beating would echo off the mud walls. What he wasn't as certain of was why his father had come to see him. It had been nearly five years since he last saw his father, even when they had worked for the same leader. And the tone his father employed… it was too serene. There had to be something behind it. The only logical explanation there could be was the fact that he had forfeited the mission because he forgot the duties of a soldier and brought compassion into a battle.

The elder Weinberg held his right hand up and made a slight twirling motion, to cue the guard to open up the cell. There was a brief silence before the creak of rusted iron accompanied the sliding of the iron bars. For a brief moment, Gino thought of fleeing, but the thought was quashed with the idea that the guard would not just sit idly by; he was probably itching to shoot at something, or someone out of sheer boredom.

Gino stumbled backward slightly as he made room for his father to enter. It was not a motion of respect; it was one more seeped in apprehension. He watched haplessly as his father walked in and looked all around the room, from the cracked corners to the ceiling, which was gathering moisture and dripping steadily into a puddle on the floor.

After thoroughly inspecting the room, Weinberg turned to his son. His son was rooted there. It was pleasing to know that he still held a vice-like grip of fear over his offspring. He strode over to the window and looked outside. There was nothing but vegetation surrounding the building.

"I'll be concise about this, Gino," he stated, still staring at the rain, "tell me, what exactly happened during that mission? What could possibly… be so much more important than the survival of one of our finest soldiers?"

Gino remained numb; he swallowed the large pool of saliva which had been gathering in his mouth for some time; he knew of his father's temper. Sooner or later his father would fly into a rage and begin to resort to violence. This was not a game of chess; his father was predictable. But the predictability was what frightened Gino, even at his age.

Several moments passed as both men stood there, allowing only the rain to create sound; it was as if time had been placed into a freezer for several hours.

The older man finally turned to face his son; his face had lost all its serenity and the smile had been replaced by a furious scowl, enhanced by the foreboding background of the cell.

With powerful strides, he reached Gino and grabbed the boy's garb by the collar and pulled him in.

"…You would sacrifice the mission for… nothing?" he hissed. Small specks of saliva flew from his mouth and found their way onto Gino's face; it caused the young man to turn his face to the side and grimace as he attempted to escape.

Gino could not bring himself to say it. He wanted so desperately to say it, but he knew that the effect his words and ideas would have over his father would be the same as a rat trying to escape from the venom of a snake. The only thing he could do was just brace himself for whatever was to come and hope that it would end quickly.

He braced too late, however, as he felt himself being released, only to see a fist coming in at his eye a moment before his head felt as though it were torn apart. The world around him spun in circles before it came crashing down onto the wet, hard floor.

Gino closed his eyes and grimaced in pain, tasting the iron in his mouth as he could barely make out the sound of his father seething in rage before a new pain was introduced- this time to his midsection, forcing whatever gases there were inside of him out in torrential coughs. He grunted painfully as he felt his body being lifted by the force of the kick before landing on the ground a small distance away from where he originally fell.

"So you basically made me come out all the way to this… this forsaken backwater of a prison… for nothing," Weinberg snapped lividly, shoving another kick, this time at his son's face. He watched as his son snapped his head back before hitting the floor once more. It was a sorry sight, but somehow, his son had managed to retain consciousness, at the expense of losing his fair complexion. "It really is odd, how nothing pertains to so many different things. To how you view the life of a fellow soldier, to what you've accomplished with your life, and who you are!"

Gino feebly attempted to raise his hand to shield himself, but it was of no avail, as his father picked him up savagely and thrust his against the wall, sending a spasm of pain shooting up the Knight's back. But that was brief compared to the barrage of punches, which came, one after another all over his torso.

_Please… just let me die_, Gino thought, as his father displayed nothing short of savageness. He had thought about fighting back, but at this point, it was impossible. There was just too much pain running rampant in his body. The explosion which had killed the child and his family seemed almost comfortable by now…

And as soon as it began, it was over. Once again, Gino felt the freefall of empty space before hitting the floor with a thud; the pain was still there, although it was ebbing away slightly, bit by bit. He coughed violently, watching as blood splattered onto the floor, mixing in with the mud.

"This reminds me… of when… you and that…. that… Eleven girl... humiliated your mother and me…" Gino heard his father wheeze; his father's age had caught up to him and delivered Gino to brief salvation. "You… I… I don't have a son…"

Not daring to lift his head up, Gino remained upon the floor, half his face to the muddy floor as he watched his father stagger to the wall and lean against it, breathing heavily. Even though he was exhausted, the older Weinberg's face still retained its venomous anger, which he directed when he looked at Gino once more after regaining some of his breath.

There was a still silence once more as both father and son struggled to recover, one from the fatigue of old age, and the other from wounds, both mental and physical, creating a sorry sight for only the guard to witness.

"Heh… the door's still open…" his father taunted, apparently having recovered to some extent, "run away, Gino. Run away like you did five years ago. I won't stop you. I'll make sure the guard won't stop you… so go ahead. That's all you're good at, isn't it? Running away… you pathetic excuse for a son."

"Sir…is everything alright?" the guard had become curious at the sounds of a scuffle and approached the cell with his firearm drawn, ready to shoot. He stared at the sight before him; a sweaty and huffing Britannian noble, and a muddied, bloodied disgraced Knight. "What… happened here?"

Weinberg rose slowly to his feet, turning his back to Gino. "Nothing. Just a little… father and son talk." He began walking out of the cell and past the guard before putting his hand on the guard's shoulder. "See to it that he rots in this place for a while before his execution."

"Sir?" The guard was clearly appalled at the lack of parental love that the noble showed toward his son and froze as the noble turned and glared at him.

"He's nothing more than a turncoat. Turncoats don't deserve court martials. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to investigate a certain something on the behalf of those irritating nobles," Weinberg spoke emotionlessly, and began walking to the exit before looking outside at the torrential downpour, cursing slightly at the fact that his escort had wandered off somewhere.

* * *

**First Floor of the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation  
**

There was an uncomfortable silence as the four people walked down throughout the hallway. Or at least, that was how Zero imagined it to be, as his grasp upon the Empress' wheelchair grew tighter and his pace began to increase.

The Empress seemed to note this as she swiveled slightly in her seat and stared with wide, amethyst colored eyes at the masked man who pretended not to notice.

"Is something the matter, Zero?"

"…Not at all, Your Majesty," Zero replied, "it just seems as though I will not be able to assist you in any manner."

"That shouldn't be too much of a problem," Nunnally vi Britannia answered, smiling. "Brother Schneizel and Sayoko are here as well."

"Please, Your Majesty, I told you, not to call me 'Brother,'" Schneizel reminded her gently, looking down upon his sister for a moment before he turned his head to talk to Zero, "But Lord Zero, why, if I may ask, were you selected for the security of this exhibition? Surely it would make more sense to hire someone else…"

Zero shrugged the question off. "There is nothing much that I can do. The Order of the Black Knights was disbanded; I was reduced to little more than a simple one-man mercenary group. Furthermore, I do not have the experience that you or Warlton have in politics and international affairs, so I am of little use in the political sense. And if we are to talk about personal attendants…" He turned to Sayoko, who smiled slightly in acknowledgement of her usefulness, "she is constantly there for Her Majesty far more than I am."

Schneizel seemed to accept the answer as a reasonable one; he did not further question his superior and continued walking.

The man behind the mask sighed inwardly. He was glad that he had received something to do, even if it did not suit him. The Black Knights… they had rejected him as their leader. Lelouch was sure that they would accept him following Zero Requiem, but that was not the case. He was truly alone, but he supposed that was part of the 'Geass' that he had accepted two years ago.

_

* * *

_

**Headquarters of the Order of the Black Knights**

_Zero felt the stare of many eyes bearing down upon him, almost as though he were being stoned to death. The eyes were fraught with anger, with sorrow, with frustration. It was perfectly understandable to Zero as he stood quietly before them all, wondering who would make the opening move._

"_Just who the hell are you?!" The opening move belonged to Tamaki Shinichirō, brash and as vocal as ever. "You expect us to follow you after you killed Lelouch like that? He was the real Zero, dammit!"_

_The words clawed at Zero's mask in an attempt to undo him, but they flailed vain, as the masked 'hero' remained firm, despite Tamaki's strong opening. He turned his head from left to right slowly; to face the other 'inheritance' Lelouch had left him._

"_I am Zero. The man who delivered the world from tyranny. From the grasp of Lelouch vi Britannia." _

_The words were spoken without emotion, but Zero felt the anger, sadness and frustration surging within him; they clashed against his innards, wanting to be released into the world. It also amazed him, how they could remain so loyal to him despite his final betrayal with the initiation of Zero Requiem. They possibly couldn't know about the details of it; only Lelouch, Jeremiah, C.C. and himself knew of the plan in its entirety. Lloyd, Cecile, Sayoko and Nina only knew about the name; he doubted they would be able to piece one and one together. But he remained still, allowing silence to descend upon the room as both sides refused to bow down to the other. _

"…_What a joke," another voice called out; it was the cold and calculating voice of Kyoshiro Todoh, the only man to have ever stood up successfully against Britannia prior to Lelouch. Zero, or rather, Suzaku Kururugi chewed his lip; he did not want to deal with his teacher as readily as he did the others._

"_I do not need to listen to your ridicule," Zero interjected, allowing some of the frustration to expose itself, "the options before you are clear. You can either remain with the Order of the Black Knights or you can allow yourself to grow complacent and let another individual such as Lelouch vi Britannia threaten the safety of the world."_

_Zero looked around once more; it was clear that he was angering them increasingly by the second, particularly Todoh, who wasn't enthralled about the idea of an impostor dismissing his thoughts just like that. He started forward before being restrained by Chiba Nagisa, who gave Zero a glare as well._

"…_Let's just leave. There really is no need for there to be an 'Order' anymore, is there?" _

_Everyone stared at the speaker, including Zero. Directly in the center of the miniature mob was a figure with sagging shoulders. The voice was different from all the others; it lacked the defiance and the anger that the others had set forth. It was the one of a broken and dispirited warrior._

"_Kallen…" Tamaki's anger had melted away, collapsing entirely and giving way to genuine concern. He had rarely ever seen the vivacious ace pilot this drained and to this extent._

_Kallen didn't listen; she began to walk, or rather, shuffle away toward the grand wooden doors, pushing it open slowly as the others could only watch in pitiful silence._

_They continued to watch as the doors slammed shut , before several of them turned to Zero once more, their anger no longer suppressed by Kallen's dejected aura. The standoff had continued once more._

"_Man… what the hell," Tamaki grumbled, looking down at the floor. "I don't know what the hell we're doing here, arguing with you." He pointed at the door with his thumb, "I'm with Kallen. I'm out of here."_

_Zero watched in disbelief as the headstrong young man wheeled about and walked away from him. He continued watching, unable to do anything as the rest of the crowd began to follow suit, abandoning him to pick up the shards of what was once the world's beacon of hope._

_The last person to leave was Todoh, who stood at the edge of the doorway for a moment, holding the door ajar with his hand. He turned around and threw a hostile glare at Zero._

"_I have my hunches, despite what Kallen tells me," he grunted, "if you truly are who I think you are, then it is all the more reason to abandon you here and now."_

_Zero felt a chilling sensation, allowing dread to overtake him as he watched Todoh leave, slamming the door particularly hard on the way out. It was possible that Todoh had deduced his identity already, after all, the man was the one who knew him the best aside from Lelouch._

_He sighed inwardly, feeling some guilt. The Order of the Black Knights… the very organization that Lelouch had created, the very symbol of justice in the world. He was to carry out Lelouch's dream and justice on his own. There was no helping it; he did not want to force anyone to share the burden with him. The burden was his and his alone. The only thing he would have to count on was his own resilience._

_Zero walked over to his seat and sat down. Being alone… Lelouch probably felt that for a while. But he had Nunnally. He had C.C. He had the rest of the Black Knights. And he had Suzaku Kururugi. Who did he have? No one. He only had the name of Zero and the reputation as a permanent accessory_

_He shifted around uncomfortably in the chair; the size of it alone didn't suit his tastes. Now that he thought about it, the chair seemed so much bigger after he realized he was truly alone._

* * *

**First Floor of the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation**

"We're here, Your Majesty," Zero informed the Empress, stopping in front of a set of doors. He released the wheelchair momentarily and pressed toggled a switch on the wall. A split second later, the doors began to swing inward, revealing a spacious room with several couches and a table in the center of the room.

Nunnally's eyes lit up. "It's… wonderful." She looked around in admiration, although Zero wondered why; the rooms in the Britannian palace were far larger and more lavishly decorated than this room.

A slightly refreshing breeze washed over Zero's open neck as the four people moved inside the room. There was a large, conference style table in the middle of the room, surrounded by a multitude of chairs, which in turn were flanked by a few lounge style couches and coffee tables.

Schneizel and Sayoko accompanied Zero and the Empress to the halfway point of the table before pulling up their own seats and sitting across from each other. The masked man, however, escorted Nunnally to the far end of the table, which conveniently had no seat to occupy the space.

"I apologize, Your Majesty," he said gently with a slight bow after pushing her in, "but I must leave you all here for the moment. There will be some security outside momentarily in case you need something."

"I understand," Nunnally replied cheerfully, flashing a pure smile, "don't mind us; we'll manage somehow."

The two spectators in the room looked at Zero and nodded briefly to him, as though they were sending a telepathic message that she would be perfectly fine in their care as he walked past them. They remained in silence as he continued to walk through the room and past the doors, before the doors slid shut with a click and obscured him from their view.

Sayoko turned to the Empress. "If I may say so, My Lady," she ventured, "it would seem that your relationship with Zero has become more formal over the past few weeks…no… for the past few months. Is there a particular reason?"

"Hm…? No, there isn't anything wrong…" Nunnally responded, but Sayoko Shinizaki had been a maid of the vi Britannias for quite some time. There was very little, if anything, that escaped from the super maid about Nunnally and her brother, except for the occasional misunderstanding here and there, including a certain supposed relationship.

"We can discuss that matter another time," Schneizel cut in, interrupting whatever Sayoko had wanted to say, "For now, we must concentrate our efforts into the rebellion."

The former Second Prince's words had drastically changed the atmosphere; it seemed as though Nunnally's mood had veered in the wrong direction, as her eyes had lost their lively flare.

"I… I suppose so," Nunnally remarked, looked more and more troubled within the passing seconds. Sayoko felt slightly troubled for the Empress as she attempted to put on a brave face to compensate for her downcast mood.

'Have we any news?" she asked in a business-like tone, but the troubled tone was still there, hiding.

Schneizel shook his head. "The UFN is still divided in half about the recognition of the Federation. Most of the Representatives who oppose the decision however, are our own Representatives, although we have lost quite a number of our representative power, as many are from the Federation itself." His eyes narrowed slightly, giving him a graver appearance.

'Furthermore, the E.U. has announced that they will aid the Federation in this conflict as of last night, but it was made public only less than two hours ago."

Nunnally's brave face faltered; she wore the appearance of a despondent soldier locked in the middle of a warzone and left to die. Her tiny hands clutched at the edge of her wheelchair's armrests and squeezed as tightly as she could.

"Why…?" Nunnally wanted to cry out, but the words came out in a hushed whisper. "We signed a treaty with them… so why?"

"Your Majesty, the answer is apparent. There is still hostility amongst both nations, and it seems that the E.U has united with the common theme of Britannia being the greater of many evils," Schneizel responded, continuing to diminish Nunnally's spirit, "and the weakened state of Britannia at the moment is the opportune moment to strike. We had lost a good portion of our military force, including the Knights of the Round in the previous war; many of the Seventh Generation Vincents, and all the Eighth and Ninth Generation Knightmares, including the Albion."

By the time all the words had come out, Nunnally appeared even smaller than she already did. Sayoko looked at her pityingly, but did not dare to utter a word to Schneizel. Even if he had lost his title of the Second Prince of Britannia, he was still of royalty and held tremendous power, power which he was restrained from using, thanks to Zero.

"Can't the UFN do anything about that?" Nunnally asked worryingly. "The Chairwoman has the power, doesn't she?"

"I'm afraid not, your Majesty," Schneizel shook his head in disappointment. "You see, Chairwoman Sumeragi and several other members have vocalized their dissent, but at this point, the words of the UFN are utterly useless if they don't have the power to back it up. The United States of China had declared themselves neutral in this matter and refused to lend any military power to help resolve this conflict. Furthermore, as you may already well know, the Order of the Black Knights is no more, save for its leader."

* * *

**Fourth Floor of the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation**

The shudder ripped through his entire torso, creating a slight spasm as Zero placed his hand against the wall to recover from the sudden attack. Perhaps the air conditioning within the place was too strong.

Several people walked past him, giving him stares of wonder and admiration, but Zero paid little attention to them. His hand tenderly left its area of support as he steadied himself and began walking again. The temptation to remove the mask and clean the interior was there, but he could not. Even if there was no one around in sight, security cameras littered the entire museum, giving very little room for any private affairs.

The room he had to head toward was probably a solid minutes away, if he knew the exact direction. For a moment, he regretted even agreeing to the entire thing; the time would be better off in the dusty, spacious confines of his office. To him, the entire demonstration event looked to be a publicity stunt, and ever since he had given it some more thought, it went against what he and Lelouch had agreed upon.

As it turned out, the main purpose of the demonstration according to Warlton was the latest in the Ninth Generation of Knightmare Frames. To Zero, it was a demonstration of threats and the possibility of a full scale war. It was defilement to everything that Lelouch had lived and died for. It was sacrilege to the Lelouch's very dream, which Nunnally was currently living out. He had been foolish to accept it so readily without giving it much thought.

However, there was very little he could do. Aside from the admiration of the people, he had very little support. It should not have mattered that the Imperial Family had wanted to prosecute him. But in the end, he really only thought of himself.

The swirling, chaotic thoughts swam through Zero's head as he walked without a sense of direction throughout the winding corridors. It was a complete miracle when he stopped and checked the map that his destination was a mere ten feet away.

Something felt out of place to Zero as he approached the door and noticed that it was slightly ajar. The matter was not helped as the doubts still lingered within his head as he grasped the doorknob. He jerked his hand away as though the door were acidic, but reassured himself that it was probably nothing before placing his hand upon the smooth surface once more.

* * *

And then, he felt it. The spasm he had experienced before seemed a distant memory as the world around him seemed to distort and disappear as he sank to his knees from the pain which frolicked about his body, laughing cruelly at him.

Amidst the pain, he opened his eyes, while grimacing furiously. The corridors had been replaced by images, flashing before his very eyes. But nothing could have prepared him for them.

He saw the death throes of his father, struggling with a knife in his torso, each slight movement pumping more and more of its life out of the wound, before ultimately freezing and lying in a newly formed sea of blood.

He saw the vibrant, pink hair of the Third Princess of Britannia, Euphemia, or to him, Euphie. He watched helplessly on his knees as she lay there, underneath the transparent veil of glass, as the crimson tinge around her eyes struggled to recapture her, only to lose to the blackness of death.

_No… please… stop it!_ Zero thought desperately, wanting to swipe away the visions. However, all the feelings from his legs had disappeared, leaving him rooted to the floor as a wilting flower, as he knew what was about to materialize before him.

And it materialized, as Zero saw himself leap onto the parade car, in front of the Emperor. It was the pistol against the sword, as the ornately decorated blade slashed professionally at the projectile based weapon and sent it away where it could do no harm.

Perhaps it was the smile which had made him hesitate. The smile which greeted the unwelcome presence of death, the smile which was about to be lost forever. The smile of the white king as he acknowledged checkmate.

Zero watched as the hands trembled violently, as if they were struggling underneath the weapon's weight, and he cried out to his other self to drop it, staring in vain as his wish as ignored and the blade had penetrated the white robes. He continued to stare as what had once been his best friend hung onto him limply, whispering the few words which would haunt him, even to this day.

_STOP IT!_ Zero wanted to cry out, but he had no need to; the images disappeared almost as soon as they appeared, replaced by the image of his surroundings. The pain had subsided as well, leaving him short of breath as a token of its appreciation.

* * *

He had been lying on the floor, his chest touching the marble and his face in the direction of the door. Breathing heavily, he planted his palms firmly upon the floor and sat up, staring at the door in confusion.

_What… what was that all about?_ He thought to himself, but he couldn't find a possible explanation for it. The surreal, hellish experience seemed vaguely familiar, almost akin to that time…

"No… it couldn't be, could it?" Zero wondered aloud, thinking about what possible connection she might have had with this. She wasn't present to watch Zero Requiem unfurl itself, but he knew she was out there somewhere. Still, he doubted that she had anything to do with this. However, there was no other possible explanation for it.

Shaking his head, Zero got up slowly, pushing the thought of out his head. The slightly ajar door had piqued his interest once more, remaining there patiently for him to open it and examine the secrets that it had held.

The door made no creaking sound, swinging open fluidly as Zero pushed it. The room was lit fairly well, allowing Zero to witness in astonishment as he beheld the sight before him.

There was blood upon the floor, even more than the blood that he had seen in his vision. It glistened peacefully amongst the bodies of its former owners, beckoning for Zero to come in, which he did, treading carefully over the first body, which lay in a position not unlike his before he entered the room.

It had seemed that there was a brief fight in the room, as Zero noticed that several bodies had pistols in their hands. But that was not of concern; the question of who the perpetrator was and where they had disappeared to was of more concern to him, as he walked over to a panel, where one body was slumped over.

The body was covering several screens, causing Zero to grasp the body, which felt heavy, and push it onto the floor, where it landed with a thud. He felt some sorrow as he knew that the body's ghost would not be pleased with the treatment of its former habitat, but there was no time to reflect upon trivial actions.

The multitude of screens made it difficult for Zero to investigate properly, but he skimmed through them all the same, his eyes darting from one to another, albeit in a calm fashion.

The composed investigation disintegrated as his eyes landed upon one certain screen. Three figures were there, but they seemed to be doubled over in pain, before one fell out of her wheelchair and onto the floor, where she remained still.

However, there was nothing on the screen which could have explained the collapse of the Empress and the pain of her two attendants, but Zero had no time to ponder as he rushed from the room, leaping over a several bodies in the process with only one thought in his head.

_Nunally..._

_

* * *

_**A/N:**

**1) I got this up faster than I thought I would, and with the trend of increasing my chapters by 300-400 words per chapter. Time to pat myself on the back.**

**2) Characterization: Okay, I'll admit it. I'm not too big a fan of Gino, and yes, even in my opinion (I consider myself fair to judging characters), he clearly lacks a spine, especially in this chapter. But I hope that people will understand, (even if it is extreme) that someone who is confronted with his inner demons, a lost sheep and facing his past will end up like that... sort of.  
**

**Furthermore, I suppose it's harder than I thought it to guess on how to write a Geassed Schneizel because he was such an interesting character and he was Geassed for what... like one episode? And received only like 1-2 minutes afterward, with no dialogue or anything. **

**Final issue to note is the interactions of the characters. So far, the majority of the interactions have been held by Zerozaku, but I'll be expanding them to other characters as well.  
**

**3) Biting off more than I can chew, as I will be handling both the issue of politics/Geass, and admittedly, I am not an expert in either field. I am doing my research but what mistakes I make, I am kind of expecting the readers to pick up and tell me. As for those of you who picked up on the increasing number of Geass references, kudos to you. As for those of you who didn't, well thanks for reading anyways, lol.  
**

**4) In one of my early attempts at writing on this site (none of the stories listed under me), I had issues with the pace of the plot, as one person (rather nicely though) told me that the plot moved too slow for him to hold any interest. So again, I want people to tell me if they have any problems. As much as I'm writing for myself, I'm writing for my audience and I want to hear their opinions.**

**5) Little treat: Chapter 7, what exactly happened in that room? I hinted at it in the chapter; extra kudos if you can pick it up, but please don't spoil it for those who didn't!  
**

**6) Hopefully, my notes will push the word count to 6,000.  
**


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